Sheentastic Voyage
by GaDS2000
Summary: When Sheen unwittingly uploads a virus to Vox, he and Libby enter the system to stop it before disaster strikes. Note: HTML formatting was being corrupted on upload so Chapter 1 is a reload of the same chapter. I apologize for this!
1. Part 1 Games People Play

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 1:

"Okay, Sheen," Jimmy said, moving to another row of lights on one of the many instrument panels arranged about the control room in his lab. "These are the indicators for the reactor's load balance distribution grid. They show how well the reactor output is matched to the lab's power demands and how efficiently the power is being routed to the various lab subsystems."

"Uh-huh." Sheen's response was more a grunt than a reply and prompted Jimmy to turn around. Rather than taking notes, as Jimmy had instructed him, Sheen was instead concentrating on putting his Ultra Lord action figure through a series of swoops, dives, and loop-the-loops. Jimmy's jaw clenched in aggravation and he went on in an ominously calm voice.

"And these switches," he said tonelessly, "are the planetary implosion controls."

"Uh-huh," Sheen repeated, not even looking to see what Jimmy was referring to.

"When you want the Earth and everything on it to collapse into a marble-sized singularity, you flip this one here."

"Got it."

"It's set to go off at 4:00 PM this afternoon, so be sure you're wearing clean underwear this afternoon just in case you get run over by a car in the ensuing universal panic and pandemonium."

"Will do."

"And be sure to change the lab entry codes just in case Ultra Lord should happen by before then." As Sheen nodded, still not looking up from what he was doing, Jimmy added, "Oh, look. Here he is now."

At this pronouncement Sheen snapped out of his reverie and looked eagerly about him. "Where?" he demanded in excitement. When he was unable to find Ultra Lord he turned to Jimmy ad immediately saw the anger on Jimmy's face. "What?" he asked.

"You haven't heard a dog-gone word I've said!" he exploded.

"Sure I have," Sheen protested. "You said Ultra Lord was coming by this afternoon."

"No, I didn't! I mentioned him because you weren't listening to anything else I've been telling you." He shook his head in frustration. "What's the big idea, anyway, Sheen? You're the one who said you'd check on the lab while I was away with Mom and Dad this afternoon. Why did you even offer if you're not going to pay attention to what I'm telling you?"

Sheen looked guilty and hung his head. "Well, actually," he confessed, digging a toe into the lab floor, "I really just wanted to use your lab while you were gone."

"Use my lab?" If Sheen had said he had wanted to expand upon Einstein's Unified Field Theory it couldn't have surprised Jimmy more. "What for?"

"Well…Libby and I have sort of a date this afternoon and –"

"Uh-uh, no way!" Jimmy objected. "There are some very delicate instruments and dangerous materials in here. I'm not letting you turn my lab into some kind of a _maison de passe_ for a clandestine rendezvous."

"It's nothing like that," said Sheen, anxious to reassure Jimmy. "It's just that I want to spend some time alone together with her without anyone knowing."

Jimmy had learned nothing if not patience from his long association with Sheen and his voice was calm. "That's what I just said."

"Oh." Sheen looked crestfallen, but refused to give up. "Well, it's not going to be anything that will mess up your lab." Sheen crossed his heart and held up his right hand. "I promise."

"Well, what are you going to be doing in here?" asked Jimmy, torn between suspicion and curiosity.

Sheen look around cautiously even though he and Jimmy were quite alone. "Promise you won't tell?" he whispered.

"Yes, sure, whatever." Jimmy made rolling motions with one hand. "Just get on with it."

Sheen carefully put down his Ultra Lord figure and pulled a shiny disk from inside his shirt. "Playing this."

Jimmy regarded the disk dubiously. "And what exactly is that?"

"Only the greatest X Station program ever made!" Sheen crowed. "It's a beta release of the latest Ultra Lord video game! The development team found me through my Ultra Lord Web page and let me download a copy to check it out before they release it."

"What's it about?" Jimmy enjoyed video games as much as the next 11-year-old boy and was intrigued in spite of himself.

"The development team didn't really say. But the programmer who e-mailed me said that this is one game that will definitely never be out of date."

"O-ka-a-ay," said Jimmy slowly. "So why can't you test it out at home?"

Sheen seemed offended by this question. "What? Play this lovingly rendered state-of-the-art 3-D surround-sound actionfest on that 128-bit 1.8 GHz dinosaur system? Why don't you just ask me to play it on phonograph?" As Jimmy stared at him, unimpressed, Sheen's indignant attitude wilted. "Plus, I don't have an X Station. I was hoping that maybe I could run it under the X Station emulator on your Game Pyramid."

"I don't know, Sheen." Jimmy looked doubtful. "I'm not sure how the Game Pyramid would react if there were any bugs in the beta version of the program. It could be dangerous."

"Oh, man." Sheen's voice dripped with disappointment. "I manage to get my hands on the greatest video game ever and I can't even play it."

Despite his misgivings Jimmy couldn't stand to see Sheen so downhearted. After heaving a great inward sigh he said, "Okay. I guess I could set up an X Station emulator in Vox. You won't be able experience the game in virtual reality but you can at least play it on the viewscreen like any other game."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Sheen said. "What about that virtual doohickey for Vox that you built? Can't I use that to play the game in Vox?"

Jimmy's answer was emphatic. "Absolutely not. I built that virtual digitization interface for maintenance purposes on Vox only. You will not use it under any circumstances." He gave Sheen a no-nonsense look. "Get it?"

Sheen's shoulders slumped. "Got it."

"Good." Jimmy glanced at his watch. "I should have the emulator set up for you and Libby about 2:00 this afternoon. You can come back then and try it out." He gave Sheen a curious look. "You know, I'm still a little surprised that Libby agree to help you play test that game. I didn't know that Libby was so into Ultra Lord."

"Actually, she isn't," Sheen admitted. "I told her that we were going to make some new mix CDs for her collection. But," he went on, his voice becoming more and more excited, "once she hears that patent pending subwoofer-enhanced sound-around and sees Ultra Lord in his 256-bit true-color texelated glory, she will be!"

As Sheen basked in his visions of the game Jimmy shook his head. _And Cindy thinks that I haven't got a clue about women_, he thought.

End of Chapter 1

Page 3 of 3


	2. Part 2 The Dues and Don'ts of Dating

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 2:

When Sheen and Libby arrived at the lab shortly after 2:00 PM that afternoon Libby still harbored some doubts about the situation. "Are you sure that Jimmy said we could use his lab for this?" she asked as they approached the clubhouse behind the Neutron house.

"For the tenth time, yes," Sheen replied in a weary voice.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

Sheen gave an exasperated sigh. "For the eleventh time, yes."

"Are you _positively_ –"

Sheen cut the question short with a shriek of frustration. "For crying out loud, woman! How many times are you going to keep asking me that?"

Libby responded to the outburst with the time-tested female tactic of putting her attacker on the defensive. She folded her arms with a frown, saying, "Well, if you're going to act like that maybe I should just go home."

Her strategy worked, for Sheen immediately caved. "No, don't do that. I'm sorry. Really. But why can't you just believe me when I tell you that Jimmy said it was okay for us to use his lab?"

"Do we really have to go into that? I mean, he's got some pretty serious science going on in there and that really hasn't been your strong point. It's like Cindy letting Carl borrow her _tai chi_ video courses."

Sheen was goggle-eyed at this. "Carl is taking _tai chi_?"

"No, Carl isn't taking – that's the whole –" Libby tried to think of some way to get the point across to Sheen and gave up. "Never mind. It just doesn't add up, somehow."

"Hey, Jimmy trusts me. We're buds, remember?" They had arrived at the clubhouse by this time and both immediately spotted a note taped to the door. Removing it, Sheen read the contents out loud. "'Sheen. The lab is all set up. Just ask Vox for whatever you need and DON"T TOUCH ANYTHING! Jimmy.'" He thrust the note in front of Libby's face in triumph. "You see?"

Libby took the note from Sheen's hand and read the last line that Sheen had not noticed. "'P.S. If anything should go wrong notify me immediately.'" She looked at Sheen with a perplexed expression. "What could go wrong with making a mix CD?"

"Yes, what indeed?" Sheen answered evasively pulling a hair from his head. He held it in front of the DNA scanner mounted to the side of the door and waited.

"DNA match confirmed. Welcome, Sheen," Vox announced after a few seconds.

Sheen beamed at Libby as the clubhouse door opened to admit them. "There, you see?"

"And don't touch anything," Vox added as the two entered.

"Oh, man," Sheen muttered as Libby sniggered. Together they crossed to the chute leading to the lab and Sheen, in an attempt to be chivalrous, made a sweeping bow. "After you, _mi lápiz color morado_."

Libby stopped at this and looked hard at Sheen. "Did you just call me a purple crayon?"

A dreamy, faraway look appeared on Sheen's face. "Yeah. I just love those stories." Suddenly aware of Libby's stare he caught himself and added quickly, "I mean when I _loved_ them. When was just a kid. Before I found out about Ultra Lord." He grinned weakly as Libby disappeared down the chute, shaking her head in baffled confusion. Once she had gone Sheen wiped his brow with the back of his hand in relief, dropped down after her, and entered the lab.

"Okay, Sheen," said Libby as she surveyed the lab. "Let's get to it. Where are those tunes you told me about?"

"Leave it to me," said Sheen. "Vox! Activate console!"

In response to Sheen's command Vox replied, "Activating console." At the same time a panel of lights on Jimmy's main console lit up and the main viewscreen displayed the message "INSERT DISK WHEN READY". As Libby looked on over his shoulder Sheen seated himself at Jimmy's keyboard, inserted a disk into the console, and began pressing buttons. After watching Sheen for several seconds Libby leaned closer and frowned.

"There's something familiar about those controls," she commented.

"Well, if you've seen one audio mixer board, you've seen them all," answered Sheen.

"And it looks as through there are two duplicate sets."

Sheen smiled weakly. "Stereo?" he suggested.

Libby shook her head. "No, that's not it." She scrutinized the panel more carefully. "Since when does a mixer board have control pads and a joystick?"

"Uh…"

Suddenly Libby recognized the control array. "Wait a minute! Those are controllers for an X Station!" Irritated, she backed away and placed her fists on her hips. "Sheen, did you drag me down here to play video games?"

"What? Me? How can you say that?" Sheen protested.

"Game simulation beginning," announced Vox. From speakers somewhere in the lab the digitized strains of the Ultra Lord theme song began to play as the main viewscreen displayed the prompt, "PRESS START TO BEGIN".

Libby uttered a low growl of annoyance. "Sheen, I don't believe you. You _lied_ to me?"

"No, I didn't. Really. We'll make the CD…eventually…but first –"

Libby didn't give him a chance to finish and started towards the door. "You know, Sheen," she shot back over her shoulder, "I thought that I was actually starting to really like you. But after your lying to me like this I don't think that's a problem anymore."

"No, Libby," Sheen called as he hurried after her. "I wasn't lying. I really wanted to spend time with you. That's the truth."

"Well, this sure wasn't the way to do that," she snapped without stopping. "You know I don't like playing video games. And I don't like people playing me even more."

Sheen had dropped to his knees and wrung his hands in supplication. "I know. But this is the best game ever. Getting the chance to even play it was going to be the greatest thrill of my life." His voice took on a pleading, almost broken, tone. "I just wanted to share that with someone I…really cared about..."

Libby had reached the door and stopped just short of it. _He had to play that card_, she thought as she stole a backward glance. Sheen was not looking at her. Instead, he was still on his knees staring at the floor, a pitiful picture of abject misery. Libby let out a sigh of resignation and shook her head. _I'm going to regret this_, she chided herself. _I just know it._ She walked back and laid a hand on Sheen's shoulder. "All right," she said, as Sheen looked up with a hopeful expression on his face. "I'll do it."

Sheen scrambled to his feet and threw his arms around her. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" he exclaimed, nearly babbling.

Libby shoved him roughly away and gave Sheen a stern look. "Hey, remember the lab rules," she reprimanded.

"What rules?"

"Don't touch anything!" She stalked back to the console, muttering darkly, as Sheen followed behind her. She slid into another chair beside Sheen as he eagerly touched the START button. "How do we play this?"

"That's part of the challenge. We have to help Ultra Lord, but exactly what we have to do is something we need to figure out. But don't worry. I know everything about Ultra Lord." He looked up in anticipation as 3-dimensional letters formed on the screen, reading

ULTRA LORD ULTIMATE

FINAL VICTORY

Libby read the words. "Is this going to be some kind of fighting game?"

"I sure hope so!" exulted Sheen.

Libby looked doubtful. "Can't we just go around collecting things and put them together to break the enchanted spell on some beautiful princess and –"

Sheen gave a derisive snort. "Yeah, if we were like 5 years old. This is a real game!" As he continued to watch a shape began slowly to form on the screen, finally becoming the rudimentary wire-frame form of a man in a purple costume. From the speakers the flat, distorted sounds of a man speaking issued.

"Ggreeeettiinnggss…bbaattttllee….bbuuddddiieess…" it said, like a recording playing at the wrong speed "Wwoouulldd…yyoouu…lliikkee…ttoo…jjooiinn…mmee…iinn…tthhee…uullttiimmaattee…baattttllee…aaggaaiinnsstt…eevviill…?"

"This is the greatest video game ever?" asked Libby in disbelief. "I really haven't missed much, have I?"

Sheen slammed his fist against the controller in frustration. "What's the matter with this thing?" he demanded.

Sheen's question had been purely rhetorical but Vox took it as an inquiry. "Insufficient resources allocated for process."

"Come again?" asked Sheen.

"Insufficient memory and CPU time assigned to simulation," Vox clarified.

"Oh. Is that all?" Sheen considered it. "Can you give it more?"

"Specify desired resource allocation for simulation."

"As much as it needs," Sheen answered impatiently. "Just get on with it!"

"Complying," Vox responded. "Restarting simulation."

Once again, albeit much faster, the game title appeared on the screen and a much more realistic 3-dimensional image of Ultra Lord appeared on the screen. "Greetings, battle buddies," a rich, resonant voice echoed. "Would you like to join me in the ultimate battle against evil?"

"Now that's more like it!" Sheen said as he eagerly pressed the button to begin the 2-player game.

"I have to admit that's a lot more impressive," Libby added as the figure of Ultra Lord faded and the realistic image of an alien landscape took its place.

What neither of the two noticed was that, on one of the many status panels around the lab, a light marked "SYSTEM INTEGRITY" changed from its normally placid green to an ominous blinking red.

End of Chapter 2

Author's Notes:

Although this story (like most of my others) is getting off to a slow start I always feel that laying the background is important. As well as helping with the supposedly logical development of the story it gives the reader a chance to actively anticipate what's going to happen next rather than simply be a passive observer of what's going on. It might be more exciting to have Jimmy and the gang thrust right into the middle of things but in my honest opinion nowhere near as satisfying.

Page 4 of 4


	3. Part 3 Who Got Game?

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 3:

Libby awkwardly manipulated the buttons and joystick on her controller, watching the reactions of her player on the viewscreen as she did so. The results were far from impressive. Despite Libby's best efforts the uncoordinated actions of her figure gave the impression that it was suffering from alcoholic intoxication, epilepsy, or perhaps a combination of the two. Sheen's ongoing comments didn't improve things.

"Okay, Libby," he said, "spin around in circles a few more times. That's the way! Now miss the door completely, run into that wall next to it, and fall into the pit. Good job! Next –"

Libby gave Sheen a backhanded slap across his shoulder. "Shut up!" she said angrily. "I told you I didn't like video games. You could be trying to help me instead of making snide comments about what I'm doing."

Sheen looked as though he had been unjustly accused. "I tried to tell you," he replied. "To get through a door you move the joystick forward and simultaneously depress the right button and fire button. To climb you move the joystick forward and simultaneously depress the left and right button. To jump you do the same thing except you hit the left and right buttons in sequence instead of together. To pivot in place –"

Libby dropped her controller in disgust. "That's the whole problem. There are so many buttons and controls on this thing that I can't remember what does what. Can't they make the controls on this thing any simpler?"

"If they did, it wouldn't be as realistic. What do you want? A video game where a character just moves back and forth?"

Libby's voice was surly. "I never said I wanted a video game at all."

That was true and Sheen knew it. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "Look, I'll tell you what. How about if I go ahead and you just follow behind me and just imitate whatever I do?"

"I don't know, Sheen," she replied. "I appreciate your wanting to share this with me, but the truth is I'm just not any good at it. Maybe you should just do this alone."

"But you can't quit now! Not when we're so close!" Sheen's voice sounded more manic than usual. "How can you just throw away everything we've accomplished so far?"

"Sheen," Libby pointed out, "we're not even on Level 1 yet. We're in the Training Round. All we've really done is to type in our names so far."

"It still took a while to do that," Sheen answered weakly.

"Only because it took you ten minutes to come up with 'LUVMUNKY' for my player name." Libby gave Sheen an annoyed look. "I'm still pretty cranked about that, by the way."

"Hey, we could only use 8 characters!" Sheen protested. "I had to shorten my name as well!"

Libby casually tossed it off. "Like Stair Master was such a great name to begin with."

"That's Studmeister!" Sheen shot back. "Can I help it if I hit the 'R' instead of the 'D' and it came out 'STRMSTR'?" He began grumbling to himself. "Who in their right mind would put the 'R' next to the 'D' on a keyboard?"

"Whatever." Sheen started to say something else but Libby cut him short. "Seriously, Sheen, I don't think this was such a great idea. Let's just call it off, okay?" Upon seeing Sheen's crestfallen appearance she added, "We could go to the Candy Bar and share a banana split."

Sheen looked a little happier. "Well, I guess I could go for a banana split…split," he said.

Libby smiled. "Okay, then. Shut the game off and let's go. Just remember you owe me a mix CD, though."

"Done and done," Sheen answered. "Vox!" he called as he stood up to leave with Libby. "End simulation!"

Vox's response surprised both of them. "Unable to terminate process."

"What?" was all Sheen could say.

"Process has usurped primary system control. Unable to terminate while process is active."

"What does that mean?" asked Libby.

Sheen shook his head, looking worried. "I don't know. But it doesn't sound good." Libby pulled out her cell phone and began dialing. Sheen's expression changed from one of worry to one of alarm. "Who are you calling?" he asked.

"Jimmy," Libby answered.

Before Libby could finish dialing Sheen grabbed the phone from her and shut it off. "No," he said intently as Libby stared at him in surprise. "Let's not do that."

"Why not?"

"Because maybe there's nothing wrong. Maybe this is all perfectly normal. We don't want to bother Jimmy with something that might actually be nothing." Sheen looked nervously around him as though he sensed unseen demons closing in on him. "There's probably no problem at all. I'm sure that we can fix this ourselves."

"If this is isn't a problem, then why are you talking about fixing it?" Libby offered.

Sheen's answer was as bizarre as Libby's question had been logical. "Yes, exactly." After thinking a few moments he began pressing buttons on Libby's phone. "Let me call the people who wrote the program. They'll know what's going on." He put the phone to his ear and muttered, "Please be there, please be there, please be there…" He suddenly snapped to attention as someone answered. "Hello? Is this Ultimax Development Systems?"

Libby scowled. "They'd better be in my calling area," she warned.

Sheen paid her no attention. "Listen, I'm playtesting the Ultra Lord Ultimate _Final Victory_ game for X Station and I'm having a problem with it." There was a pause as Sheen listened to the voice at the other end. "Yes, I had that problem initially but got around that. The problem is that I can't quit the program." There was another pause. "Really?" Sheen's face became unusually thoughtful as he listened to the voice for some time. "Okay, well, suppose someone was smart enough to build something that could run it while still being stupid enough to actually do it. What then?" Sheen's expression became indignant. "Well, I sure don't see anything funny about it." He listened again. "Uh-huh…uh-huh…I see. Well, okay. Thanks for the information. If anything else comes up, I'll let you know. 'Bye." He deactivate the phone and handed it back to Libby without a word.

"Well?" Libby demanded.

Sheen's voice was almost casual. "We're doomed. So, ready to hit the Candy Bar?"

Libby grabbed the front of Sheen's shirt with both hands and dragged him forward so that his face was only inches from hers. "What did they say?" she shouted.

"Oh, that." He appeared to search for an answer. "Well, they said that the game was a new type of game that they were developing for the next generation of X Station and that they didn't really expect anyone to be able to run it as a game. They just wanted to see if the technology was compatible with the current platform hardware."

This didn't satisfy Libby. "And?"

"Well, the new technology features artificial intelligence and something called genetic process modeling that allows the game to become more challenging and realistic as the system provides more memory and faster processing. That's how they planned for the game to never become obsolete. But they said that nothing available today that was advanced enough to let it to go rogue so there weren't any safeguards built into it. The system limitations would keep the game from getting out of control. But…"

Libby's grip loosened and Sheen straightened again. "But you told Vox to give it whatever it needed." She looked again at Sheen. "So what does that mean?"

"Well, it means that the program is now pretty much in control of Jimmy's system. That's why Vox can't shut it down."

"Can it be shut down?" Libby wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"Well, the person I spoke to said there were two ways. One way is to just shut the X Station off."

"But we're not running it on an X Station. We're running it on Vox's system. To do that we'd have to shut off Vox." Libby looked around uncomfortably. "And Vox controls most of the stuff in Jimmy's lab. The heating…the lighting…his experiments…" Her eye lit on the reactor. "And his reactor. Even if we knew how to shut Vox off, what would happen to the reactor? Would it explode or something?"

Sheen acted as though it were an unfair question. "Hey, I'm a playtester, not a nuclear scientist."

Libby shook her head. "Okay, that way is definitely out. What's the second way?"

"To keep on playing until we finish." Sheen sat back down in the front of the console and picked up his controller.

Libby looked at her controller with distaste. "Can we go back to considering the reactor thing again?"

Sheen pulled her down onto the seat next to him. "No. Definitely not. We need to help Ultra Lord achieve his primary objective to end the simulation."

This told Libby nothing, "And what is that?"

"Beats me. Vox!" he called. "What is Ultra Lord's primary objective?"

Vox seemed to take longer than usual to respond to the inquiry, but when the answer appeared on the viewscreen neither Sheen nor Libby were happy to see it. The words were simple, yet the message they formed seemed somehow sinister in its simplicity:

TO WIN THE GAME

End of Chapter 3

Author's Notes:

One of my favorite films of the '80s is John Badham's movie _WarGames_. As well as launching the careers of Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy it raised the question of what happens if the technology intended to serve us instead takes control. The last line of this chapter is taken directly from the film and is one of the two (in my opinion) classic lines from the movie.

Page 4 of 4


	4. Part 4 Infection

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 4:

"'To win the game'," Libby repeated, reading the answer on the viewscreen once again. She shook her head. "Why does that not make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, Sheen?"

Sheen shrugged. "Beats me. I mean, winning is what Ultra Lord is supposed to do, right?"

"This isn't Ultra Lord, Sheen. It's a program." She looked worried. "Why didn't it say something like, 'Defeat the Supreme Muckamuck' or 'Find the Lost Broom of Whazoom' or something?"

Sheen merely laughed. "That's crazy, Libby. There's no such thing as the Supreme Muckamuck or Broom of Whazoom." He stopped laughing and gave her a questioning look. "Is there?"

"I don't know. All I know is that we're supposed to be the players. _We're_ the ones who are supposed to win the game. Why did it say that Ultra Lord is supposed to? How can a program beat itself?"

"Is that important?" Sheen looked as puzzled as he sounded.

"It is if we want to shut this thing off before Jimmy gets back."

"But all we have to do is get through the game," Sheen argued. "That's what the one of the guys who wrote the program said."

Libby was still not convinced. "Yeah, I know," she said. "But we don't know the game, we don't know the computer…" Her voice trailed off and she stood for a minute chewing her lower lip. At length she came to a decision. "I'm sorry, Sheen. I think that we should just leave this alone until Jimmy gets back and let him work on shutting the program off. He's a genius, right?"

"But I can't let him know that I broke his computer!"

"You didn't break his computer," Libby pointed out. "All you did was try playing a game. And he said you could. Right?"

"Ye-e-es," Sheen answered slowly.

"And we didn't touch anything like he told you – I mean, us – to. Right?"

Sheen's face brightened somewhat. "Yeah. We didn't."

"So why should Jimmy blame you?" Libby concluded. "It's not your fault, is it?"

"No, it isn't." Sheen now looked offended. "How dare he blame me for something I didn't do?" he demanded.

Libby was taken aback. "Uh, Sheen…"

"By golly, I take that insult from no one! No one, do you hear?"

"Sheen…"

Sheen didn't seem to hear her. He was instead pacing back and forth, waving his arms and smacking his fist into his palm to emphasize his words. "I shall have my full measure for this affrontery! That blackguard! I'll lay waste his lands and holdings! I'll leave his house barren!" He threw back his head and shouted, "Vegeance shall be mine!"

"SHEEN!"

The tone and volume of Libby's voice snapped Sheen out of his tirade. "What?"

"Get a grip!" she snapped. "Jimmy hasn't done anything."

"Oh, hasn't he?" he retorted.

"No."

"No?" Then, as the situation dawned on him, he replied, "Oh. Right. I guess I should stop watching those late night movies."

"Gee, you think?" Libby asked. Before Sheen could answer, she added, "Come on. Let's go before things get any worse."

Sheen sighed. "I suppose we should. Although I don't know how they could get any –"

The sound of a warning buzzer and a flashing red light cut him off before he could finish. At the same time Vox announced, "Warning. Virus detected in system. System lockdown initiated. Containment protocols initiated."

"What's that?" Libby asked, alarmed.

"Things getting worse," Sheen replied. "Vox! What's going on?"

"System has been infected by an unknown malignant process. Automatic protocols to contain and eliminate Threat process have been initiated."

"What?" Libby grabbed Sheen by the front of his shirt and dragged him down towards her. "You uploaded an infected file into Jimmy's computer?"

Sheen sounded irritated. "Will you please stop that? You're stretching it all out of shape."

"I'll stretch you all out of shape!" she snapped. "Answer the question! Was that an infected file?"

"It seems so," he answered miserably. "But I ran all the standard checks. I swear. There shouldn't have been anything in it."

"Analysis of standard anti-virus protocols predict system responses to be ineffective. Estimated time to total system failure is sixty-three minute and fourteen seconds," Vox announced.

Libby abruptly released him and, caught off guard, he dropped to the floor. "All right," she said, pulling out her cell phone. "This is definitely something we have to tell Jimmy."

Even to Libby, who had come to know him fairly well, Sheen's reaction was surprising. He immediately crawled on his knees towards her and wrung his hands. "Please, Libby!" he begged. "Don't do that! Don't tell Jimmy!"

"What?" she asked. Sheen's desire to avoid the blame, especially with Jimmy's prized computer in jeopardy, both disappointed and angered her. "I can't believe that even now you'd let your friend –"

"Yes," Sheen said, his voice calmer but still choked with emotion. "He is my friend. He's the only one in my whole life who ever trusted me with anything important. When we were on Yolkus he trusted me with getting the ship so that everyone could get away. Since then, even when everyone thinks I'm a complete loser, he's still my friend and trusts me with important stuff. If he finds out about this, everything will be the way it used to be. He'll never trust me with anything ever again." His voice sank to a hoarse whisper that she could barely hear. "No one will. Just like before."

His words stunned Libby. _Was that really the way it used to be?_ she thought. She let her mind drift back to the time before the Yolkians had kidnapped their parents and Jimmy had organized a rescue party to save them. Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen had been outsiders whom the other kids had always laughed at and called "wierdos" and "losers". She realized with a start that she had once been foremost among the children who had cruelly mocked Sheen. Before Yolkus everything had been different, but now…

With an effort she fought to get words past past the lump growing in her throat. "That's all the more important that this needs to be fixed, Sheen. If Vox is in danger then it has to be fixed before it's too late."

Sheen didn't look up. "I know."

"So that's why I have to call Jimmy so that he can –"

"No!" Sheen's voice was uncharacteristically determined. He climbed to his feet and looked her in the eye. "Not Jimmy. I'll fix it."

"You? But…but you don't know anything about fixing computers. And even if you did, only Jimmy really knows how all this stuff works. How can you possibly fix it?"

"Vox!" Sheen called. "Can the virus be fixed with the virtual…in-your-face…whatchamahooey?"

"There is insufficient data to evaluate the chances of success for this application of the virtual digital interface."

"Well, how about in theory?"

Vox took longer than usual to answer this question. "The virus can theoretically be manually eliminated using the interface," the computer announced at last.

"That's good enough for me." Sheen walked over to a platform on one side of the lab. "Prepare to activate the interface."

Libby hurried after him. "Sheen, wait!" she called out.

"There's not time for mushy good-byes, Libby," Sheen said as he mounted the platform.

"This isn't some mush good-bye, Sheen," Libby objected. "Jimmy told us not to touch anything!"

"I know. But desperate times call for desperate measures." His eyes took on a faraway look as he continued, "Libs, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take a genius to see that the problems of two little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. But if I don't do this, I'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, or maybe not even next week or next month. I may not even regret it next year. In fact, I may not even regret it when I'm retired and playing bingo and trying to remember why anyone ever thought that Larry Fodder was cooler than Ultra Lord or tried using Windows ME. But I do know that I'll always regret losing my Ultra Lord Deluxe Utility Belt. You'd think that someone on the playground would have found it and turned it in to the Lost and Found, but no. That's what comes from going to a school that's nothing better than a den of thieves and never-do-wells and –"

Libby's expression had gradually changed from sympathy to bewilderment to impatience to outright annoyance. "Sheen!"

Her shout startled Sheen out of his diatribe. "What?"

"You're rambling again."

Sheen nodded his head. "I know. But desperate times call for –"

"Sheen!"

"Okay, okay." Sheen looked momentarily defeated but quickly resumed his defiant stance. "But don't try to stop me. This is something I have to do."

"I'm not going to try stopping you."  
"You're objections are useless," Sheen went on, not realizing at first what Libby had said. "I'm doing this despite your impassioned pleas and womanly concerns for my safety."

"I'm not objecting," Libby reiterated.

Sheen finally got the point. "You're not? Really?" It was hard to tell whether Sheen was puzzled, delighted, or somehow disappointed.

"No." Libby shook her head and then took her place on the platform next to Sheen. "We're doing this together."

"Really?" There was no question that Sheen sounded delighted this time. "Not that I'm complaining, but why?"

Libby thought back again to the time before their adventures on Yolkus. "Let's just say I owe it… to an old friend."

Sheen considered this. "Do I know this old friend of yours?"

"No." Libby shook her head. "Not any more."

End of Chapter 4

Author's Notes:

I have to apologize for being so late with this chapter. At this time of year there are always things to occupy my time so that most of my spare time is on the weekends. I'll do what I can to put in more effort on the weekends to make up for the missed weekdays, but be assured I haven't abandoned the story. After having kept Sheen and Libby in the background so much I feel that I really owe it to the two to give them their 15 minutes of fame.

Page 4 of 4


	5. Part 5 Guest In the Machine

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 5:

"Okay," said Sheen. "Let's get this party started!"

"Wait a minute." Despite her determination to help Sheen Libby was still cautious. "How exactly does this virtual interface thing work?"

Sheen shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure," he admitted, "but I think that it's probably some kind of virtual reality thing. Jimmy uses it to work on Vox so it must work pretty good."

"Well…" Libby hesitated.

"Okay, okay. It must work pretty _well_." Sheen rolled his eyes. "Geez, what a stickler."

"What?" asked Libby after doing a double-take.

Sheen, however, was not listening. "Okay, Vox, let's crank it!"

"Unrecognized command," was Vox's only response.

"Let's roll?" Sheen tried, with similar results. "Let's kick it? Let's do this thing?"

Libby passed a hand over her eyes and shook her head. "Activate interface," she said.

"Activating virtual digitization interface," Vox announced. A ring of bright light encircling Libby and Sheen appeared on the platform while a similar ring appeared above their heads. The two rings passed over the two young people, moving slowly together as until they passed through each other and faded into nothingness. By the time the rings had disappeared both Libby and Sheen had also vanished.

From Libby and Sheen's point of view, however, it was the lab that had vanished, leaving them in what seemed to be a deserted room, approximately ten feet square, with a single door set in one wall and empty except for a platform similar to the one they had been standing on. They looked around them in bewilderment and then at each other. "Okay, what happened and where are we?" asked Libby.

"I don't know," Sheen answered. "I just got here."

"Vox! Status!" Libby called. There was no answer.

"Let me try," Sheen offered. "Vox! What happened?" When Vox failed to respond to his query Sheen shrugged. "I don't get it. Maybe there's someone around here who can tell us what's going on."

"Yeah," Libby replied. "Maybe. Let's check out the door and see where it leads."

Together they approached the door and Sheen, after a brief pause, carefully tried the knob. It was unlocked and he opened the door cautiously, not sure what to expect on the other side. It turned out to be a long, empty hallway with intersecting corridors every hundred yards or so. Along both walls, evenly spaced about twenty feet apart, were doors bearing some sort of sign. Checking the door he had just opened, Sheen saw that it also bore a similar sign reading:

VDI PORT

0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFE3

Sheen scratched his head. "'VDI port'?" he said aloud. "I wonder what that means?"

Libby also studied the sign. "I don't know. But it sounds familiar somehow. Let's check out some of the other doors. Maybe we'll find a clue about what went wrong."

Having no better ideas Sheen agreed. The sign on the next door they checked read:

INTERSPATIAL TELECOM CARRIER PORT

0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFE2

"Okay, that doesn't sound familiar at all," Libby said.

"I wonder what's inside?" Sheen wondered. "Think we should open it and find out?"

As they stood there debating on whether or not to investigate what was behind the door it suddenly burst open and what seemed to them to be a young person dressed in a plain single-piece uniform, rushed through the door and dashed past them down the hall. After recovering from her initial surprised Libby called out, "Excuse me! Could you tell us –"

"Synchronous data!" the person called back faintly. "Have to meet the timing!" As Libby and Sheen watched, still baffled, the person halted at the first corridor and stood there motionless. Moments later what seemed to be a wave of light, almost too fast to see, sped through the intersection. When it had passed the person who had raced from the room was no longer there.

"What the heck is going on?" Sheen wondered aloud. "And who was that?"

Libby shook her head. "And what did he mean by 'synchronous data' and 'have to meet the timing'?"

"You mean, 'she', don't you?"

"It was a guy," Libby insisted.

Sheen shook her head. "I don't think so."

"You really think that was a girl?" Libby challenged.

"Oh, I'm sure of it," Sheen countered. "I have an instinct for these things."

Libby simply sneered at that. "Then you'd better look twice when your instincts tell you to invite somebody to be your prom date. You might just get a shock when you pick them up."

"As if." Sheen looked up and down the hallway. "Where to now?"

"Since we don't have any better choice, why not just go where that guy –"

"That girl," corrected Sheen.

"- that person," Libby compromised, "went?"

Sheen nodded. "Sounds good to me. We have to find and stop that virus pretty quick. We only had about an hour when we started and it's been a while now."

"How long?" asked Libby.

Sheen checked his watch, and then took a closer look. He shook his arm and held his wrist up to his ear. "That's weird."

"What is?" Libby wanted to know.

"My watch isn't running. Look."

He held his wrist out so that Libby could see. As she watched she suddenly grabbed his wrist to took a closer look. After nearly a minute she released his arm and said, "Yes, it is. Take another look."

Sheen looked and at first couldn't understand what Libby had meant. As he continued to watch, however, he noticed that the hundredths of seconds display on his digital watch were almost imperceptibly changing, with some segments gradually darkening and others slowly fading. As he continued to watch the "2:23:45:13" appeared to be changing to "2:23:45:14", although it would be some time for the change to complete. Sheen looked up in surprise. "I've heard of watches running slow, " he began, "but –"

"It isn't running slow. We're running fast."

"Huh?"  
"We're moving thousands or maybe even millions of times faster than normal. I guess it makes sense that we'd have to be."

Sheen still didn't understand. "Why does it make sense?"

"Don't you get it? We haven't gone anywhere. We're still in Jimmy's lab. But now we're inside Vox. That interface thing didn't just give us access to the system. It actually put us into the computer." She pointed down the hallway. "That person who ran past us was a data packet. And that room we found ourselves in was the hardware port for the V.D.I. - the virtual digitization interface. We're operating at a speed consistent with the operating speed of the computer."

"Come again?"

Libby tried again in terms Sheen could understand. "We've been tronned into Jimmy's computer."

That sank in. "Oh, man, no!" Sheen cried out. "The computer effects in that movie were horrible!" He looked at his hands as through expecting to find scales or claws. "But if I've been turned into a computer-generated entity I hope that someone at least used decent computer modeling and rendering software to do it." A thought suddenly struck him. "Hey, wait a minute. Computers don't have rooms and doors and hallways. They have circuit boards and wires and chips and other stuff like that."

"I know. I guess this interface thing lets us see the parts of the system as things we can understand. It must make it easier for Jimmy to find and fix things."

"Okay," Sheen said. "So how do we find and fix the virus?" He suddenly clutched his throat. "We're in here with it. It won't affect us, will it?"

Libby scoffed at that. "No. We're not programs." She paused and added, "I think." She resumed marching down the hallway with Sheen following behind her. "But I'd say that the first order of business is to get a handle on how things work around here and see what's going on."

"And where do we go to do that?" Sheen asked.

Libby pointed to a sign hanging from the ceiling of the intersection. "There."

Sheen read the sign. On it was the legend:

SYNCHRONOUS PERIPHERAL DATA BUS

Below it were several arrows labeled:

LEVEL 4 MEMORY CACHE

HARDWARE I/O SUBPROCESSING UNIT

CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT

"It looks we're riding the data bus," Libby commented.

End of Chapter 5

Page 4 of 4


	6. Part 6 Working the System

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 6:

Although neither Sheen nor Libby knew exactly how a synchronous peripheral data bus worked Libby reasoned that if they simply waited in the intersection, as had the person before them, things should happen automatically. Since they were in Jimmy's computer system it seemed only reasonable that most things would operate without any intervention on their or anyone else's part. Even so, she felt rather silly waiting in the middle of an empty intersection with no clear idea of what was supposed to happen or even if anything was going to happen.

"How long have we been waiting, Sheen?" she finally asked.

Sheen looked at his watch again. "It's kind of hard to say. Maybe half a hundredth of a second."

Libby started pacing impatiently. "I thought that computers were supposed to be fast. Why is it taking so long?"

"Why is what taking so long?"

"I don't know," she fumbled. "The data…thing…that's supposed to take us somewhere."

Sheen shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe the virus is slowing things down. I don't know much about computers except how to use them to play games or get on the Internet or send e-mail. How they work is something I never really learned." He gave Libby a curious look. "I thought that you knew a lot about computers."

"Well, sort of," she replied. "I mean, I know what's inside regular computers and how they work but a lot of this stuff goes beyond what I'm used to. I mean, take the cache."

"Really?" Sheen's face brightened. "There's money in here?"

"No. Not cash. Cache."

"Okay, you've lost me."

Libby spelled it out for him. "C-A-C-H-E. Basically it's a place where data is temporarily kept so that the processor can access it more quickly than usual. It's like if you were building something. Rather than going to the toolbox to get something you needed and then having to go back all the time to replace it, you'd keep the tools you needed nearby so you wouldn't waste as much time getting them."

"Okay, with you so far," said Sheen.

"Cache memory works the same way. The processor puts the data it has to use a lot in very fast memory. It speeds things up."

Sheen thought about it. "Well, why not put everything in very fast memory?"

"Because faster memory uses more power and is expensive. It more practical and economical to use slower but cheaper memory for most of the system, and less of the faster and more expensive memory for the cache."

"But why should more expensive memory be a problem if the system has cash to pay for it?"

Libby snorted impatiently. "I told you, Sheen it's not cash, it's –" She broke off when she saw Sheen's mischievous grin. She gave him an annoyed punch on the shoulder. "You're impossible," she growled.

"Yeah, I know," he agreed. "But am I ever dull?" Libby simply shook her head, although it was exasperation at Sheen rather than in answer to his question. "So why is the cache in here different from what you're used to?" Sheen asked, turning serious again.

"Well, the sign says that this way goes to Level 4 cache. That means that there should be 3 more levels of memory, each faster than the previous level, between it and the processor. I've never even heard of a computer having more than 3 levels of cache. I mean, how can the system effectively manage a cache replacement strategy through that many levels?"

"Come again?"

"Trust me, it's not a simple thing. It's kind of like having to juggle the tools you're using as well as deciding which ones to keep next to you and which ones to put back in the toolbox." She sighed. "And the sign says that there's a hardware input/output subprocessing unit. That's a new one on me. The only computer subprocessors I'm very familiar with are the graphics processors and math coprocessors."

"Ooh! Ooh!" Sheen called out, raising his hand and jumping up and down in his excitement. "I've heard of graphics processors. Those are what make Ultra Lord even more realistic on the monitor, right?"

Libby nodded. "In addition to other things. But this is the first time I've heard of a hardware I/O subprocessor. It must be something Jimmy thought up to prevent the input and output to the processor from becoming a bottleneck. Usually input and output data is slow enough compared to the processor speed that it isn't an issue, but his computer may collect enough data to have to preprocess it."

Sheen didn't appear to be listening. "Did you feel something?"

"What?"

Sheen looked at her. "I thought I felt the floor vibrate or something. And now…" He peered down the corridor and pointed. "Do you see something?"

Libby looked in the direction indicated by Sheen and thought she could see a small point of light on the edge of her vision. "You mean that bright dot?"

"Yeah. Does look like it's getting bigger to you?"

"I think so." Another few seconds of looking left no doubt in Libby's mind. "And pretty fast too. I think –"

A bright flash passed through the intersection, leaving it as empty as it had once been.

"- it's nearly here," Libby concluded. She and Sheen looked about and found themselves in what appeared to be a translucent golden sphere. Through the globe's semitransparent wall they could see flashes of light and dark as they passed other intersections at what seemed to be breakneck speeds. Curiously, there was no noise or even any sensation of motion, even when their transport made abrupt 90-degree turns down alternate corridors. They might have been standing still while their surrounds moved past them, or simply watching a film of their journey. Despite that Sheen was thoroughly enjoying the ride.

"This is great!" he exulted. "How long do you think this ride lasts?"

"I guess it depends on how far from the memory cache we are," Libby speculated. "I'd guess the first destination is the cache, then the subprocessor, and then the central processing unit."

"How do you think we get off this thing? I don't see any doors or anything."

"I guess we'll find out soon enough."

When exactly it happened neither Sheen nor Libby could say, but they suddenly found themselves standing in an intersection much like the intersection they had left. The only difference was that there was no sign above them and instead of a fourth hallway there was a large double gate with the legend

LEVEL 4 MEMORY CACHE

"I guess you were right, Libs," Sheen said. "So after this cache place we go to that hardware processing place?"

"Apparently," Libby answered, as they approached the gates. "But maybe there will be directions to other places once we pass through the memory cache. We'll just have to see." She paused and looked at Sheen. "How do you figure we'll find the virus?"

"I'm not sure."

"Well, once we find out, how do we stop it?"

"I'm not sure about that, either," Sheen admitted.

Libby shook her head. "I'm glad you thought this through so well," she commented dryly.

"Hey, I'll think of something," Sheen protested as they neared the barrier and the gates swung silently inward, admitting them into a large chamber. "How bad can a virus be?"

They had not taken more than three paces inside when they both stopped dead in their tracks. The scene before them could only have been described as something out of a disaster epic. The chamber was strewn with large fragments of wreckage and debris and large, charred craters pitted both the walls and floor of the room. There were other passages leading out of the area with gates similar to those through which they had just passed, but the massive metal barriers were breached and hanging askew on broken hinges. Here and there Sheen and Libby could make out what appeared to be charred figures sprawled in twisted poses on the floor. One looked to Libby to be the same one they had briefly met earlier, although all the still forms appeared to be dressed alike and she had no desire to move closer and verify the identity. After a few minutes of shocked silence she spoke, trying to keep control of her voice. "I'd say pretty bad."

Sheen was not listening. He was instead walking, almost as through mesmerized, towards something lying on the floor. When he reached the object he knelt down and picked it up, and then stared numbly at it before hugging it to his chest and rocking back and forth, his head bowed in inconsolable grief. Libby joined him and laid a hand on his shoulder but before she could ask Sheen unfolded his arms and held out what had attracted his attention. Even charred and smashed as it was, Libby was able to recognize it.

It was Ultra Lord's mask.

"I'm sorry, Sheen," she said with difficulty, searching for the right words to say. "I know it's hard."

"No," he said quietly in a voice Libby had never heard Sheen use before. "Now it's personal."

End of Chapter 6

Author's Notes:

One thing I've always thought is downplayed a lot is just how bright Libby actually is. She's obviously up on the latest in consumer electronics such as music players and cell phones, she's possessed of uncommon common sense, and in several episodes (such as "The Science Fair Affair") she's shown that she can be scientifically inclined when she chooses to be. Hopefully this chapter brings out the way I've pictured Libby to be when the situation demands it.

Page 4 of 4


	7. Part 7 Virtual Reality

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 7:

Libby had known Sheen long enough to trust him in most situations, but she still remembered a time when Jimmy had increased Sheen's intelligence in an effort to assist him with a critical math test. The incident had taken a sinister turn when the transformation had given him psychogenic abilities and nearly driven Sheen mad with his newfound power. His geometrically increasing mental abilities had almost destroyed Retroville and would have killed Sheen had not Jimmy and Carl efforts managed to convince Sheen to voluntary surrender his powers. Sheen's dark side had repelled Libby then, and the thought of what he might do now frightened her. She tried to think of what she could say to reach him.

"It's all right, Sheen," she said hesitantly. "It'll be okay. Really."

"They destroyed Ultra Lord," Sheen choked out. "They'll be sorry for that. I'll make them sorry."

"Just who are 'they', Sheen?"

Sheen looked up at her, his eyes not seeming to really see her. "Them." He gestured vaguely about him. "The ones who did this. The ones Ultra Lord died fighting against."

Libby fought to make Sheen see reason. "Sheen, they didn't kill Ultra Lord. It was a game you uploaded, remember?"

"I remember," Sheen answered, rising to his feet. "I was the one who brought him here. I was the one who set the virus loose in here." He struggled to get the next words out. "I'm the one who's responsible. It's my fault." He turned and began walking towards the exit at the far end of the chamber.

Libby hurried to catch up and grab Sheen by the arm. He shook her off but she raced around and planted herself directly in front of him, forcing him to stop. "Sheen, listen to me," she said, carving each syllable from granite. "It's just a game. It isn't real."

Sheen stopped and again fixed Libby with that peculiar, sightless stare. "Not real?" His voice took on a more strident tone. "Not real? Look around you, Libby!" He spun around in a circle, pointing at the still forms and wreckage that surrounded them. "We're here! So were they! So are hundreds or thousands of others like them! Does it matter if they're bits in a computer or flesh and blood in another world? Do you want to explain to any of them that they aren't real and their existence doesn't matter?" He whirled around and began stalking off again.

Libby didn't pursue him this time. She simply shook her head as she watched him move away. "You're losing it, Sheen," was all she could say. "So maybe the game was real in here. Maybe you feel guilty about setting some virus loose in Jimmy's computer and having it trash your Ultra Lord game. But don't you get it?"

Sheen didn't even pause. "Get what?" he asked.

"What difference does it make? Ultra Lord isn't even real!"  
Sheen stopped so abruptly and stood so still that Libby felt a sudden chill of dread pass over her. Slowly Sheen half-turned and looked at her over his shoulder. His dark eyes seemed almost like coals lit by an inner fire. "Don't ever say that," he bit off. "Ever."

Libby was now sure that Sheen had gone insane. "Sheen, what are you talking about?" she stammered, trying to calm him. "You can't really believe that he's real, can you?"

The reply was icy but not violent. "Does it really matter?"

"It does to me," answered Libby. "I could understand if you were this wrapped up in someone like George Washington or Martin Luther King or Albert Schweitzer or someone else who was a real person, but he's just a TV character. He's some character that someone made up to sell some stupid breakfast cereal and toys."

Sheen looked at her and Libby couldn't read the emotion on his face. Was it sorrow? Disappointment? Frustration? Or some combination of them all? As she strove to interpret his expression Sheen shook his head. "You just don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" Libby took a cautious step closer. "What are you talking about?"

In answer Sheen sat down on the cracked floor, his head down. "What heroes are all about."

"Of course I do. There are heroes everywhere. Real heroes, not made up ones."

"What makes them heroes?"

The simple question caught Libby off-guard. "Uh…risking their lives for others."

"Was Jonas Salk a hero?"

The name sounded familiar but Libby couldn't quite place it. "Who?"

"The guy who developed the vaccine for polio. It saved millions of children from polio so that they didn't end up paralyzed. A lot of people in the 1950's thought he was a hero."

"Oh." Libby considered it. "Well, yes. I'd say he was a hero."

Sheen nodded. "He didn't risk his life. But I think he's a hero, too."

Libby felt that Sheen was leading up to something and decided to take the direct approach. "So a hero isn't necessarily someone who risks his life to help others. So what is a hero?"

"A hero is anyone you choose." Sheen replied in a voice so soft that it was almost a sigh.

"But what makes them a hero?"

Sheen shrugged. "Whatever is important to you. Maybe it's your dad spending the day with you instead of going fishing with his friends. Or your mom baking cookies until 3 AM for your class because you forgot to tell her you needed them until the last minute."

"I understand that, Sheen," Libby assured him. "But those are real people."

"To me," Sheen went on, "a hero is someone that made the world better. I know I'll probably never meet Ultra Lord. But I'll never meet George Washington or any of the other 'real' heroes you mentioned either. What makes them heroes isn't the chance of meeting them. It's their ideas of what the world could be like that they had."

Impossible as she had thought it would be Libby somehow felt that she was losing the battle. "But if Ultra Lord isn't real how can he have any ideas of his own?"

"Was Moby Dick real? Was Cyrano de Bergerac real? Was North Dakota real? Even if Ultra Lord didn't have ideas someone had to have them. Someone somewhere believes that there are heroes that will help the people that can't help themselves, the people that other people always pick on and call 'losers' and 'wierdos'. And if enough people believe that then maybe, someday, there will be heroes like that.

"So maybe Ultra Lord isn't a real person. Maybe he's just some idea someone had. But people aren't around for long and ideas can live forever. And if something can live forever, it has to be real somehow. Even if no one else really believes that."

Sheen fell silent and Libby said nothing. Up to now she had not fully understood Sheen or why he had never seemed to have much of a grip on reality. She had always been puzzled by the almost fanatic devotion to a character she believed Sheen should have long ago outgrown. And she had never really realized why Sheen had formed such a close friendship with Jimmy who was, in virtually every measurable way, Sheen's complete opposite. She felt that all her life she had been watching Sheen through some frosted window that had suddenly slid open letting her see him clearly for the first time. The real world meant little to Sheen because it had so rarely offered anything of value to him. Movies, books, and TV shows were the only worlds that had promised him heroes and people to value and look out for him when no one else would.

Heroes like Ultra Lord.

People like Jimmy.

She knew now why his quest to avenge Ultra Lord and rid Jimmy's computer of the virus was so vitally important to Sheen. It was the only way he felt that he could justify the sense of worth and purpose that they had given him. He would not stop until he had fulfilled that quest or was himself defeated, and he would go alone if needs be.

Sheen was so lost in his own thoughts that he was startled by the touch of a hand on his. As though waking from a dream he looked about him and then up at Libby's face.

"If we're going to do this," she said. "we'd better get moving."

End of Chapter 7

Author's Notes:

I've always felt that Sheen and Cindy are the most misunderstood of the group and love putting in what I term "backfill" like this chapter to try to make their characters more accessible and understandable. Sheen's circumstances in particular are almost a mystery. On the show only his father has ever been shown (I presume that Sheen's parents are divorced), and sisters have been alluded to (but never seen), so despite his good relationship with his father I tend to think that he can sometimes feels very much alone even in his family. Under the circumstances I can understand how he could withdraw from the world in an attempt to find a better one and that to me suggests that he would either become a rebel, an idealist, or possibly both.

Page 4 of 4


	8. Part 8 Friends

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 8:

Sheen got back to his feet. "We?"

Libby nodded. "We." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before going on in a hesitant voice. "I don't really understand it all, but I guess I can at least see that this is important to you…and I couldn't call myself a friend if I turned back now. What I guess I'm saying is…maybe Ultra Lord doesn't mean that much to me…but you…well, you…"

Sheen's tone said far more than the simple words ever could. "Thanks, Libs." He looked at his watch and said, "Like you said, we'd better get – holy shazbot!" He held the watch to his ear and then looked at Libby. "How long have we been talking here?"

"About ten minutes. Why?"

He should her his watch. "Because my watch says that about ten minutes have gone by. In computer time in here, that should be days!"

"What?" She grabbed his wrist and confirmed that what Sheen had said was correct. She released his arm and shook her head. "That doesn't make sense. Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Unless," she continued, "computer time doesn't work in here." She looked around them speculatively. "This part of the system is gone. I guess that the time synch thing only works in parts of the system that are still functioning."

Sheen looked worried. "Then we'd better book. Vox said we only had about an hour before the system failed. We might not have as much time as we thought we had. If we're in here when. – I mean if – that happens, I don't know what will happen to us."

It was something that Libby hadn't thought about and wished she hadn't been told about. "Neither do I. And I don't want to find out. Let's go." As they jogged towards the far doorway Libby asked, "Why did you hold your watch up to your ear?"

"To see if it was running."

"But it's electronic. It doesn't make any noise."

"What? Are you sure?" He held the watch up to his ear and sounded surprised. "Well, what do you know? It doesn't."

Libby shook her head but couldn't keep the amusement out of her voice. "The friends I have," she commented.

He gave her a curious look. "Friends?" he wheedled, fishing for more.

"Friends," was Libby's firm answer, but she began fidgeting under his gaze. "Ok, at least friends," she conceded_. Cindy_ _would be having a field day right now_, she thought as she and Sheen exited the ruined chamber. _But I have her hole card. She isn't fooling anyone about her and Jimmy._

At that moment in the Other World Cindy and Jimmy were at the Retroville Mall, egging each other on as their parents conversed over cups of coffee at Storebought's. "So I guess it's true, Nerd-tron," Cindy said, pointing to some large bags containing shirts and pants. "Your mother really does pick out your clothes for you." She snickered. "I hope that she at least got you some jammies without the attached booties."

"Hey, is it my fault that I'm too busy advancing the boundaries of science to go shopping for my own clothes?" he defended. "At least she's able to buy me clothes that fit. When was the last time you had pants with legs that actually covered your ankles?"

"These happen to be the style, you fashion-challenged –"

An insistent beeping from Jimmy's wristcomp interrupted Cindy's counter-attack and Jimmy activated the device, pushing several buttons to navigate to the source of the alert. "Now, what in world could this be about?" he mumbled. "I took care of everything before I left the lab."

"Another of your brainstorms going down in flames back home, Neutron?" Cindy taunted. Her expression changed from one of mocking to concern when he didn't answer. The concern changed to outright worry when it seemed to her that his face appeared absolutely white. "What is it?" she asked.

In reply Jimmy jumped up. "I've got to go," he said. "Mom, Dad, there's something back at the lab I forgot about. I'll see you back home."

His father looked mildly confused. "But we haven't even been to the Ducks Non-Limited store," he pointed out. "They're having their Annual Egg-stravaganza today. You don't want to miss that, do you?"

"You can tell me all about it when you get home," Jimmy answered. "Come on Goddard." Goddard, lying under the table, got to his feet and obediently trotted out.

"But –" Hugh began.

"Oh, let him go, Hugh," Judy Neutron said. "We already have his clothes. He doesn't have to stay any more."

"Thanks, Mom." He dashed towards the mall entrance. "'Bye. Love you," he called back.

Jimmy's actions worried Cindy. He wasn't one to act this way unless something was seriously wrong and if that were the case she wanted to know what. Without saying anything she took off after Jimmy, much to her parents' annoyance and the Neutron's amusement.

"Really," Mrs. Vortex sniffed. "Chasing after boys at her age. The very idea." She gave Judy an icy stare. "It's so difficult for raise her properly with such bad influences in her life."

"Well," Judy purred with a venomous smile, "you have to admit that he's quite a boy to chase after. After all, he _is_ a genius."

The two men looked at each other and shrugged. "I don't see what the problem is," Hugh said. "When I was Jimmy's age girls were chasing after me all the time. Of course," he admitted, "they were usually waving their fists and shouting, but I certainly enjoyed the attention."

"Same here," agreed Cindy's father. "I rather liked it, too. In fact, Honeycakes here would call me two or three times a day, and –"

"I did no such thing!" Mrs. Vortex spluttered. "I called _once_ when I had to stay hom sick from school to find out what the homework assignment was, and I asked you over to help me with it."

"What homework assignment was that?" Hugh asked innocently.

"Biology," Mr. Vortex replied as he took another sip of coffee.

"How fascinating," Jimmy's mother said knowingly. She raised a eyebrow and smiled in satisfaction at Mrs. Vortex's irritated expression. "Biology."

Cindy was by far a better athlete than Jimmy and easily caught up to him before he reached the exit. "Okay, Neutron, what's the story?" she demanded.

Jimmy didn't slow his pace and gave her an annoyed stare. "What are you, some girl reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper?"

"Out with it!" Cindy insisted, refusing to be put off by Jimmy's evasive response. "Something big is going on and I want to know what it is."

"There's a problem at the lab," Jimmy told her as they emerged from the mall. "I have to get back right away. Goddard! Flycycle Turbo Mode!"

"How bad is it?" Cindy wanted to know as Jimmy climbed aboard Goddard.

"Bad." The short answer was all Cindy needed to know that the problem was extremely serious. She had learned that Jimmy could and would go on at great length about nothing in particular, but that the less he said the more serious the situation was. Without hesitating she leaped onto the flycycle, sitting sidesaddle across Jimmy's lap and putting her arms around him for stability. "What are you doing?" Jimmy asked, astonished.

"I'm coming with you," was Cindy's answer.

"But –"

"We're wasting time, Neutron."

Any answer would have failed to dissuade Cindy and Jimmy had none. With a grunt of exasperated resignation he piloted Goddard up into the air and in the direction of his home. "You're making a mistake," was all he said.

"Why?"

"Because there's nothing you can do to help. And the less you know about it the better."

This only added fuel to the flame. "What are you talking about?"

"That alert was from Vox," Jimmy replied with a grim look. "The system is shutting down."

"Okay. So what? You shut it down all the time, don't you?"

"For periodic maintenance and upgrades I shut off some of the subsystems. Once in while I power it down entirely. But those are controlled shutdowns. This is an uncontrolled one. Something is wrong. It's almost like Vox is dying."

This still told Cindy nothing. "Okay, so you just fix it and start it up again, right?"

Jimmy shook his head. "If the system doesn't power down in the correct sequence, or the control processes shut down before some of the systems they control are shut down, things could get very bad."

"Which systems? How bad?" Cindy asked, although something told her that Jimmy had been correct about the less she knew about the matter the better.

"Well, my reactor, for one. It could fail."

Cindy was speechless for several seconds. When she finally regained her voice she said, "Are you saying that you could have a meltdown?"

"I'd be willing to settle for a meltdown. The three feet of lead compound that shields my lab would contain all the radiation until I could scrub it. I'm thinking of something much worse."

"An…an explosion?" She could hardly get the words out.

Jimmy nodded. "A very big one. I've got to find out what's going on and fix it before it's too late."

"How long do we have to fix it?"

Jimmy gave his watch a quick look as the flycycle began its descent into Jimmy's back yard near his clubhouse. "Core systems are projected to fail in about fifty minutes. After that…where, there won't be any 'after that'."

Cindy and Jimmy alit from the flycycle and walked to the clubhouse that led to Jimmy's lab. "Jimmy?" Cindy asked tentatively.

Jimmy activated the clubhouse door with the DNA scanner. "Yes?"

"Have you ever considered studying music or art or something less technical instead of science? Maybe things would be less hectic around here at times."

End of Chapter 8

Page 4 of 4


	9. Part 9 Bad News and More Bad News

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 9:

Inside the lab Jimmy turned around slowly, staring open-mouthed at what he saw. Nearly a third of the indicators were burning a steady red, and almost as many were blinking an angry crimson. "It's worse than I thought," he finally said.

Cindy looked about at the lights. "What's happening?"

Jimmy gestured towards the banks of lights. "All those lights are status indicators for various systems in my lab. Every one of them should be green. A blinking red light means that something is failing. A red light means that it's already failed." He passed by several of the panels and shook his head as he examined each one. "It looks as though a lot of Vox's systems have been corrupted or have completely shut down."

Cindy pointed to one corner of the lab. "What about your reactor?"

Jimmy inspected a console of green lights. "So far, so good. It's one of the most protected systems in here so that and Vox's core systems will be among the last things to succumb to the virus. But there's another problem."

"Another problem?" Cindy looked both incredulous and annoyed. "Just how many things can go wrong with your inventions anyway?"

Jimmy snorted in protest. "Hey, I have a lot of things going on in here!" He reined in his temper before continuing. "But at least this is something that I was able to anticipate. Vox is trying to defeat the virus, just like your body would fight off a cold. To do that takes energy. The stronger the virus is the more energy Vox needs to fight it, and the more power the system has to pull from the reactor. The power levels are still well below the danger level, but I'd guess that there isn't much more than thirty minutes left before the reactor overloads."

"So even if the virus doesn't get us, the reactor could still explode?" Cindy shook her head in disgust. "This just keeps getting better and better, Neutron."

"I told you earlier that you were making a mistake coming along. But if I can stop the virus it'll solve both problems." He looked about in bewilderment. "But what could have happened here? And where are Sheen and Libby?"

"Sheen and Libby?" asked Cindy. "Were they here?"

"They were supposed to be." Jimmy slid into the chair in front of his main computer console and began typing furiously.

Cindy frowned. "Well, if Sheen was in here without supervision I'd say that pretty much explains what happened."

Jimmy paid no attention, instead studying the computer log information that was flashing by on the main video screen. After several seconds of careful scrutiny he tapped a key that froze the list and began to advance the data one line at a time. "Okay," he said. "Here's where a program was uploaded to the X Station simulator. That must have been the beta test game that Sheen wanted to try out. Someone named –" He sounded out the names. "- Love Monkey and Straw Muster logged into the program. Apparently the program maxed out what I'd allocated to the simulator, but nothing serious. Wait a minute." He peered harder at the list. "A few minutes later someone gave the program unrestricted access to the system."

"Sheen," Cindy put in wryly.

"Probably. But why?"

Cindy looked smugly superior. "So his dorky game would run better, of course. That's why people keep buying faster computers with more memory."

Jimmy shook his head. "That's not what I meant. Why would an X Station game need more memory than what an X Station would have?"

"Who knows? Maybe it's for some next generation X Station that will have more memory and fast processing."

"Well…" Jimmy considered it. "That would make sense. Sheen did say that it wasn't released yet." He turned back to the video screen. "Unfortunately I did set things up so that Vox would do whatever they asked. And when Vox gave them unrestricted system access it opened the door for some kind of virus or Trojan horse in the program to get into the secure areas. It's been working its way towards the system core and shutting down processes along the way." He slammed his fist against the panel before him in anger. "But why didn't Sheen or Libby tell me what happened? Why would they just take off like that?"

"They were probably scared to tell you that they'd infected your system. Although," Cindy added, "it doesn't sound like Libby to just run off like that."

"No, it doesn't. And it doesn't sound like Sheen, either. He might have been scared to tell me about infecting Vox but I can't believe that he would just leave. And the system log shows that they never logged out of the game." He thought about it. "Maybe they went looking for me. Vox!" Jimmy called out. "When did Sheen and Libby leave the lab?"

Vox's answer surprised Jimmy. "Subjects have not left the lab."

"Come again?"

"Subjects Sheen and Libby have not left the lab."

"What do you mean they haven't left the lab? Where are they?"

"Please specify the subjects you are attempting to locate."

Jimmy felt a moment of irritation but realized that Vox's response was no doubt due to the continuing degradation of the system. "Where are Sheen and Libby?" he stated clearly, attempting to keep any trace of impatience out of his voice.

"Virtual digi-digi-digitization interface activated at 2:28 PM," Vox replied.

The sound of Vox's stutter worried Cindy. "It sounds like things are getting worse," she ventured.

"Much worse," Jimmy agreed, although for a different reason. "Sheen and Libby are in the system."

"Well, yeah," Cindy said. "I mean, you said that they had never logged out."

"No, that's not what I mean," Jimmy said. He pointed at the video screen. "I mean that they're _in the system_! Literally!"

"Say what?" She looked from Jimmy to the large screen and back again. "Are you saying that they're like some kind of program in your computer?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Jimmy began typing rapidly again.

"Why would they do something like that?"

Jimmy thought about it. "I think," he answered slowly, "that they were trying to fix the system. That's what the virtual digitization interface is for. Sheen knew that."

The answer meant little to Cindy. "And just what is this interface thing?"

"You know about my Game Pyramid?"

Cindy thought about it. "You mean that thing that lets people enter their video games to play them?"

Jimmy nodded. "Yes. It's like that. But instead of placing them inside a game, it digitizes them and creates a virtual representation of them inside the computer so that they can directly interact with the system. I use it when I have to do some maintenance on Vox." He went on thoughtfully, "I guess that Sheen felt that he and Libby could fix the virus by using it."

"Can they?" Cindy asked.

"In theory, yes. But they'd have to know where to find it and how to deal with it." Jimmy resumed typing rapidly. "And they'd have to know how to get back out of the system again before the system shut down or lost power. As long as they're virtual representations they need a functional system to be represented in."

"But if Vox shuts down and they're in there, what's going to happen to them?" Cindy asked, not completely sure she wanted to know.

Jimmy paused long enough to give her a bleak look. "What happens to the programs in your computer when you shut it off?"

If Cindy had been worried before, she was terrified now. "The programs shut down too. But they aren't lost forever. I can just start them up them."

Jimmy resumed his frantic typing. "That's because you have the programs stored on your hard drive. The programs in memory are just copies and as long as the program on the hard drive is intact you can always reload them again. There isn't anything like that for Sheen and Libby. They're the genuine article, not just a copy. If they vanish, they're gone for good." He pounded the console again. "Gas planets!" he snarled. "I can't get in! The antivirus containment protocols have locked everything out!"

Cindy looked at the event list. "That doesn't make any sense. The list says that those were activated at 2:23 PM. How could Sheen and Libby get in at 2:28 PM?"

Jimmy began pacing. "I don't know. Unless…" A thought occurred to him. "Unless it's because they were already logged into the game. The containment wouldn't affect things that were already active in the system." He resumed pacing. "But this is bad. It means that I can't get in to stop whatever is shutting Vox down. I can't even access enough of the system in time to try doing it from outside before the virus shuts everything down." He stopped pacing and gave Cindy a solemn look. "I'm not even sure whether I could get Sheen and Libby out of the system before that happens. Not that it would matter one way or the other where they were if that happened. And right now, they're they only ones who have any access to the system."

"So what you're saying is…" Cindy's voice trailed off as the situation dawned on her.

Jimmy nodded. "If this virus is going to be stopped in time," he said, confirming Cindy's worst fears, "it's going to have to be Sheen and Libby that do it."

Cindy's shoulders slumped in defeat. "We're doomed."

End of Chapter 9

Page 4 of 4


	10. Part 10 Last Words

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 10:

As Jimmy and Cindy were assessing the situation in the Other World Sheen and Libby continued to press forward in the Cyber World. Although they had no clear idea where they were headed they both assumed that following the trail of destruction would bring them to the virus that had invaded Jimmy's computer. Libby kept a close eye out for more signposts and the few that she and Sheen encountered convinced her that the central processing unit was the intended destination of their quarry. For a time the chore of tracking kept Libby's mind busy, but eventually nagging doubts began to filter through. Some thoughts concerned whether they would be able to catch up with whatever they were pursuing. Others concerned what the two of them would actually be able to do if or when they did catch up. Sheen's voice broke into her thoughts.

"You know, it's kind of funny, Libs," he said.

"What is?" she asked.

"We've been running non-stop for a while now and I don't feel tired at all. Usually I get winded after just a few minutes."

Libby shrugged. "It's not so surprising. We haven't really been going that long. Plus, these really aren't our bodies. We're just pieces of information in Jimmy's computer."

Sheen thought about that. "You'd think that if we were just pieces of data we'd be able just teleport places or something like that."

"Maybe that wasn't what Jimmy needed when he invented that virtual interface thing," Libby pointed out.

"I suppose so. Still, you'd think that since we're more than just programs that we'd have some kind of superhuman powers in here."

The idea intrigued Libby. Up to now she had assumed that they were just bundles of information like everything else in Jimmy's computer. But Sheen had a point. Unlike programs or data packets they had sentience and free will. It made sense to her that they should have some special abilities in here. "What kind of superhuman powers?" she asked.

"I don't know." Sheen shrugged. "Like flying, or making things materialize or vanish, or other kinds of stuff that would make the other things in here think that we're gods or something."

"I think maybe we already are," Libby pointed out. "After all, a person like us created everything in here."

"Good point," observed Sheen. In a deep and melodramatic voice he boomed, "All right, you programs! Heed my words! I am your supreme master! Hear the voice of your god and tremble!"

"Oh, stop it," Libby grumbled. "Don't be blasphemous."

Sheen simply grinned. "Oh, right. Like I'm really going to be hit by lightning or something in here."

Both Sheen and Libby were shocked into silence and immobility when another voice that echoed down the corridor and seemed to shake their surroundings called out, "Libby! Sheen!"

After his initial astonishment Sheen dropped to his knees and wrung his hands. "Spare me!" he cried. "I didn't mean it! It was Libby's idea that I was a god. Not mine!"

"I've found them!" the voice called, but apparently not to them.

"That voice sounds familiar," Libby mused.

"Now that you mention it, it does, doesn't it?" added Sheen as he recovered from the initial shock and regained his feet.

"Sheen! Libby! It's Jimmy!" the voice called.

Libby sounded delighted. "Jimmy? Where are you?"

"In the lab. What are you doing in my computer?"

"It's a long story," Sheen began. "Somehow I loaded a virus into your computer and Libby and I came in here to stop it."

Libby joined in at this. "But we don't know how to do it. I'm not even sure if we can get to it before it crashes your computer."

"Where are you?" Jimmy asked.

"Somewhere between the memory cache for the interface we used and the hardware subprocessor," Libby called back. "I'm not sure how far between them."

There was silence while Jimmy seemed to consider this. "All those systems are completely down," he finally answered. "You're right. You'd never make it to the CPU going that way. At the rate the computer systems are failing you'd never reach a place to resynch with the system clock again."

"Well, now that you're here you can fix things, right?" Libby asked.

"No, I can't. Vox's containment routines have locked me and everything else out of the system. There are only a few connections with the outside world still working, like this communications link. And I don't know how long that will hold up." There was another silence. "I hate to dump this on you, but right now you two are the only hope of beating this thing."

"So what we supposed do?" asked Sheen.

"You'll have to abandon the main data pathways and get into the autonomous regulatory system. That should let you resynch and get to the CPU before the virus gets there."

Sheen sounded puzzled. "The automobile what?"

"The autonomous regulatory system." Jimmy repeated. "It reaches every part of the computer system and runs pretty much independently of the main processes. It's responsible for maintaining the health of the system, kind of like the human immune system."

"Okay, so if we do get there in time, how do we stop the virus?" Sheen wanted to know.

"It's hard to say without knowing what the virus is," Jimmy answered. "But I'll try and give you access to some of Vox's files to help you out."

Libby sounded doubtful. "How are files going to help us?"

"The same way they do in real life. You access them and use the contents."

"We can do that in here?' Sheen seemed both puzzled and delighted by the news.

Jimmy sounded surprised. "Sure. You're Users, after all. You just need to get to a functional file access terminal that you have permissions to use." His voice was suddenly sober. "But you have to get to an access way to the autonomous regulatory system to make it to the functional parts of the system. I'm pretty sure you'll be safe taking that way."

"Wait a minute!" Libby objected. "What do you mean, 'pretty sure'?"

"Well, like I said…" Jimmy's voice faded and Sheen and Libby missed his next words.

"What was that?" Libby called out.

After a pause Jimmy's voice faded in again. "…ations are starting to fail. Just be careful. You'll recognize the access points…red signs…sentries…stay away…" Jimmy's voice again faded away.

Libby shook her head in frustration. "Wait a minute! We didn't get all of that! Repeat!"

The only answer was silence. Sheen looked at Libby and shrugged. "I think we've lost him."

"And at the worst possible time. It figures." She frowned. "He said something about red signs. Have you seen any red signs?"

"I haven't really been looking for any," Sheen confessed. "But I thought I saw some doors here and there with red letters on them."

"Those must be the access ways that Jimmy mentioned." She gave Sheen a concerned look. "Did he sound worried to you?"

"It must be because the virus could crash Vox."

Libby sounded unconvinced by Sheen's answer. "Maybe. But I think there's more to it than that and that he just didn't want to say anything to us about it." She sighed heavily. "I just wish we could have heard what he was trying to say about that regulatory system and why he was only 'pretty sure' we'd be safe using it."

"He was probably just worried that the virus might shut that down while we were using it and that we wouldn't get to that CPU thing in time."

"I'm not so sure of that. But we'd better get going and find one of those access ways." Together the two sped off down the corridor, their eyes alert for any door or hatch with a red sign of some sort on it.

In the Other World Jimmy gave up his attempts to raise Sheen and Libby again and sank back in his chair. "Well, that's it," he said. "The communications link is communications gone as well. They're really on their own now."

"Are those sentries you mentioned really that bad?" Cindy sounded as worried as Jimmy looked.

"Normally, no. But with so many things failing at once the system is probably on high alert and ready to react to anything it thinks is trying to infiltrate the secure areas. Sheen and Libby were both given pretty high permissions so as long as they don't try to actively interfere with anything they should be safe." He paused and repeated the last words to himself. "Should be safe. But," he went on, "if they try anything that even hints of some sort of threat to the system it will protect itself. It's like when something infects a living body. The immune system is alerted and reacts to the infection. It could be pretty dangerous in there."

Cindy sat down next to Jimmy. "And it isn't out here?" she asked, pointing to the reactor. The needle on a meter indicating the amount of power drawn from the reactor moved slightly closer to the red region of the dial. Cindy buried her head in her hands. "I just hope that they're careful."

"That's just it," Jimmy answered. "There's only about fifteen minutes left. They may not have time to be careful."

End of Chapter 10

Page 4 of 4


	11. Part 11 And Hero Makes Three

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 11:

Sheen and Libby raced at top speed down the corridor, keeping a sharp lookout for an access way to the autonomic regulatory system that Jimmy had told them about. From time to time they encountered smaller side passages, but nothing to indicate either their destinations or purposes. With each possibility and subsequent disappointment Libby became more worried that perhaps they had already passed all the access points and each step was wasting time and taking them farther away from their goal. She was glad to have Sheen for company and felt that grim yet positive presence comforted her in a way that Carl or Cindy or even Jimmy could not have done. As she tried to figure out why this was so she realized that Sheen had always been someone they could count on when the chips were down. _Reliable_, she decided. _No, trustworthy_, she corrected herself. She wondered why she had never thought of him in that way before.

"What's that?" Sheen suddenly called out.

Libby snapped out of her thoughts. "Where?"

Sheen pointed. "About a hundred yards down the hall on the left. Is that a door with a red sign on it?"

Libby peered into the distance, straining to see what Sheen was referring to. At first she saw only featureless wall, much like what they had been passing for so long. Then she thought she could make out a small break in the surface which gradually assumed the form of a hatchway with an unmistakable blotch of crimson. "Yes!" she cried excitedly. "I think that's it!"

Sheen glanced at his watch as they hastened their pace and shook his head. "It had better be. It's been nearly six minutes since we spoke with Jimmy. I don't think we'll have time to hunt for another way into that system if this isn't it."

"This is it. I'm sure of it." Together she and Sheen came to a stop and read the notice on the door.

ARS ENTRY

WARNING

SECURE SYSTEM OPERATION

PRIVILEGED ACCESS ONLY

"Warning?" Sheen said aloud. "A warning about what?"

"I'm not sure," Libby said when she had finished. "But I don't think we have any choice. Jimmy said this was the only way to get to the central processing unit in time."

Sheen nodded. "I suppose you're right. Here goes nothing." He gripped the wheel that secured the barrier in place and attempted to turn it. After a brief moment of initial resistance the wheel turned smoothly and Libby could hear the retention mechanism withdrawing the locking bolts, like the sound of a bank vault being unlocked. As Sheen gave the wheel a final turn there was the distinct sound of the bolts clearing the hatchway and a faint hiss as the thick door swung slightly inward. Cautiously Sheen pushed the door further open and examined what lay beyond. Much to his relief yet somewhat to his disappointment the only thing that lay beyond was another passageway, smaller than but otherwise very much like the corridor there were now in. Sheen turned back to Libby and shrugged. "Looks clear to me."

Libby shrugged back. "Then I guess we go in."

Together they entered and pushed the hatch back into place. As they did so they could hear the sound of the locking mechanism automatically securing the door again. Sheen made a hurried but careful check of the door for some way to open it again and found none. "I guess we're committed," he announced.

"If we aren't now, we probably will be," Libby returned. "If we told anyone about what we did in here they'd think we were nuts." Sheen said nothing and Libby sighed inwardly. _Nobody gets my jokes_, she thought bitterly, but said only, "How much time do we have now?"

Sheen checked his watch and excitedly nudged Libby. "Hey, Libs! Check it out!" He held his watch out for her to inspect. "My watch has slowed down again!"

Libby checked the watch and found that Sheen's observation was correct. "I guess that means that we've resynched with the system clock again," she said. "That must mean that this place is still working. It also means that we have more time- relatively speaking - to find this virus thing and kick its cyber-bootie out of here."

Sheen moved rapidly ahead down the corridor. "We'd better hurry anyway. There's no telling how long this part of the computer will keep working."

That made sense to Libby. She hurried after Sheen, asking, "Where exactly do you suppose this leads?"

"I don't know," admitted Sheen. "I guess we just keep going until we hit an intersection and make a decision which way to go then." He suddenly stopped and pointed. "Is that an intersection there?"

Libby looked ahead and nodded. "Yes."

"Is that someone standing in there?"

"It looks like it." She looked again. "Is that some kind of rifle he's holding?"

"It looks like it," Sheen parroted. "Why would he have a weapon?"

Libby smacked her forehead with her palm. "Stupid!" she hissed.

Sheen looked hurt. "Hey, I was just asking."

"No, no, not you. Well, not this time, anyway." She looked annoyed. "I should have realized what Jimmy was trying to tell us. He said that this was like the human immune system and that it was responsible for maintaining the health of the computer. This whole system is designed to stop anything that might threaten the computer, like the way white blood cells and antibodies fight germs and viruses in our bodies."

"But we're not a germ or virus. It wouldn't try to wipe us out, would it?" Sheen asked nervously.

Libby's voice reflected her doubts. "I don't know. Maybe if we're careful and don't touch anything it will think we're supposed to be here and leave us alone."

Sheen's face brightened. "Right. Just act casual. Gotcha." He started whistling loudly and walked forward with his hands thrust casually into his pockets. He had gone only two steps when Libby yanked him back.

"Will you cut out that stupid whistling?" she hissed. "That's the most suspicious thing anyone could do when they're trying to not be suspicious."

"Well, I could try something else." He thought about it and said, "I could try to juggle. Or how about if I ask him for the time?"

Libby stared at Sheen as though he were insane. "Sheen, are you serious? Ask _her_ for the time?"

"Well, I can't ask _him_ for directions!" Sheen pointed out. "That would tell _him_ right away that we don't belong here."

Libby shook her head. "Just don't say anything," she sternly advised him. "Just walk by like you belong in here and maybe _she_ won't do anything."

"Well, okay," Sheen agreed. "But just one question."

Libby sighed. "What is it?"

"What direction do we 'just walk by _him_'? Right, left, or straight on?"

That stumped Libby. At last she said, "Let's see what happens when we reach the intersection. Maybe we'll see something down the other passages when we get there. If we don't, let's just go straight."

"Okay. You're the boss."

Trying not to seem nervous Libby walked towards the intersection and sentry with Sheen following a step or two behind her with innocent smile on his face. It was fortunate that Libby was in front, as she would have undoubtedly told Sheen that he looked even more suspicious smiling than if he'd been whistling. When the two were within five paces of the intersection the sentry stirred and challenged them. As with the data packet they had encountered earlier in the system it was difficult to tell whether the sentry was male or female.

"Halt!" the sentry called. "Identify!"

"She's Libby and I'm Sheen," Sheen replied before Libby could stop him. "What's your name?"

The sentry seemed to consider this and barred their way with the weapon. "Access denied," was the perfunctory response.

Libby jerked Sheen back and retreated with him back up the passageway. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

"Hey, he asked," he protested. "I was just telling him, is all."

"That's not the type of identification _she_ wants. _She_ wants a process ID or something so that _she_ can tell whether or not we're allowed in here."

Sheen looked baffled. "What's a process ID?"

"Exactly. We don't have one." She stood tapping her chin thoughtfully. "There has to be something that will let the system recognize us."

"Hmm…." Sheen considered it. "I wonder…" He proceeded back towards the intersection, and once again the sentry challenged him.

"Halt! Identify!"

Sheen tried a wild guess. "Studmeister!" he responded.

"Access denied."

Sheen sighed. "Stair Master?" he tried.

"Access granted." The sentry shouldered the rifle and stood to one side.

"No problems, Libs!" Sheen called jubilantly. "Just use your player name for the Ultra Lord game!"

Libby was stunned. "What?" As she realized how she had to identify herself to the system her astonishment changed to irritation and she balked. "No way."

"It's the only way, Libby."

"I think I'd rather be fried," Libby retorted stubbornly.

Sheen continued to coax her. "It isn't so bad. Really."

Reluctantly Libby moved towards the intersection and gritted her teeth as the sentry again demanded her identification. In a voice that sounded as though she were strangling, she managed to get out, "Love Monkey."

"Access granted," the sentry responded, and stood aside. Libby stalked up to Sheen, who was trying not to smile, and shook a fist in his face.

"If you ever, _ever_ tell anyone about this," she snapped, "I will personally terminate _your_ processes. Get it?"

Sheen nodded vigorously. "Got it."

"Good." Libby looked around. "Now, which way do we go?"

Sheen looked about. "I dunno. There aren't any signs."

"Well, someone must know." She started down the passageway that continued in the direction that they had been going. "Let's just go straight on and see what we find."

Sheen, however, didn't follow her. Instead, he turned to the sentry and said, "Excuse me, but my friend and I are looking for the central processor. Do you know the way there?"

The response was both surprising and terrifying. Instantly the lethal-looking weapon was leveled on Sheen as the sentry advanced on him. "Central processing unit is restricted to Supervisor access only. Identify!"

"What?" Sheen stammered.

"Identification not recognized. Access denied. Process termination authorized." The sentry raised the weapon and took careful aim at Sheen as the boy backed away in terror.

"Sheen!" Libby screamed.

There was a bright flash and Libby's skin tingled as the nimbus of a high-energy discharge filled the intersection. In a reflex response to both the bright light and the sheer horror of what was happening Libby threw her arms in front of her eyes. An acrid smell of smoke filled her nostrils and she flinched as a horrible image of Sheen being vaporized flashed through her mind. Although she didn't want to look she knew that she had to face the awful reality of what had happened. Slowly she lowered her arms, but despite her best efforts she was totally unprepared for the sight that greeted her. She stood there staring mutely, unable to speak or move.

In the intersection Sheen was standing unharmed with the sentry who had threatened him lying in a charred heap on the ground before him. Sheen was not looking at the sentry's remains, however. Instead, he was staring down a passageway with much the same expression as the one on Libby's face. From the passageway a familiar form emerged.

"Greetings, battle buddies," he boomed. "Would you like to join me in the ultimate battle against evil?"

Sheen recovered his voice, or at least enough of it to make his gasp of incredulity heard. "Ultra Lord?"

End of Chapter 11

Page 5 of 5


	12. Part 12 Friend and Foe

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 12:

As Sheen stared goggle-eyed at the imposing personage before them Libby tried to make sense of the confusion of thoughts swirling in her mind. Ultra Lord alive? He'd been destroyed in the memory cache, hadn't he? It was true that all Sheen had found was a shattered mask, but if the mask hadn't been Ultra Lord's then where had it come from? And if it had been Ultra Lord's mask then who was this person? As near as Libby could tell his costume and mask were undamaged and he seemed to have no injuries whatsoever. Libby had seen in this computer that the people – or whatever they were – could be injured and destroyed. Was it possible that they could be healed as well?

Sheen had finally recovered enough to speak coherently. "Ultra Lord!" he cried. "Is it really you? We thought that you had been killed!"

The heroic figure merely laughed at this. "Ultra Lord always wins against evil," he proclaimed in rich bass tones. "Now, answer quickly. Are you ready to join in the Ultimate Battle against the galactic forces of darkness?"

"Yes! Yes!" Sheen answered in ecstasy. "Lead on!"

At this point Libby stepped forward and confronted Sheen. "Now, what a minute, Sheen," she said. "Maybe we should think this over."

"Think what over?" Sheen looked puzzled. "This is Ultra Lord. He can help us stop that virus thing."

Libby stole a quick look at the muscular figure who was, apparently, waiting for the two young people to reach a concensus. "_Is_ it Ultra Lord?" She gave Sheen a searching look. "Are you _sure_?"

"Well, who else could it be? I mean -" Sheen spread his hands out towards the brightly garbed hero. "- just look at him!"

"I know, I know. I just don't understand how he could have survived the attack back there when everyone else in that room got blown away."

Sheen thought about it. "Well," he finally said, "maybe there were actually more there than we found and a lot of them actually got away. Or maybe Vox gave Ultra Lord a lot more power than the people back there had so he was able to survive."

"That's possible," Libby conceded. "You did tell Vox to give the game whatever it needed. But -"

"And don't forget that he saved me from that sentry and that he called us his battle buddies," Sheen concluded, sensing an opportunity to finish the debate. "If he isn't Ultra Lord, why would he do that?"

Libby was still not convinced but knew that she had no reasonable rebuttals to Sheen's arguments. _Maybe I am being too suspicious_, she thought. _After all, who knows more about Ultra Lord than Sheen?_ She shelved her doubts for the moment and nodded. "All right," she said. "There's still something here that doesn't add up, but let's assume that he's Ultra Lord for the moment. Right now, we have a virus to stop."

Ultra Lord beamed. "That's the ultra-spirit!"

"I'm not talking to you," Libby snorted. "Sheen, which way do you think we should go?"

Sheen considered the four possibilities. "Well, we came from that way," he said, pointing to one corridor. He then pointed to another passage. "And Ultra Lord came from that way, so it has to be one of the other two."

"Yeah, but which one?" Libby pressed. She thought for a second or two and then pointed down one of the two remaining passages. "I'd guess that's the one that leads to the CPU."

"Why do you think that?"

Libby shook her head. "I don't think that. Like I said, it's just a guess."

"Oh, man," moaned Sheen. "Maybe we should try _Rock, Paper, Scissors_. Or

_Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe_."

"That would still be guessing," Libby pointed out. "We need to know for sure which way will get us to the CPU."

A sudden voice startled both Libby and Sheen. "That way," Ultra Lord said, pointing to the corridor Libby had not chosen.

"What?" Libby carefully studied Ultra Lord's face but could read nothing. "How do you know that?"

Ultra Lord pointed to the pile of ash in the center of the intersection. "From him," he said simply.

"All right!" Sheen crowed in triumph. "I knew it was a 'he'!"

Libby ignored Sheen's outburst and stared at Ultra Lord. "What do you mean? Were you somehow able to communicate with the sentry before you blasted him?"

"Negative, Love Monkey. In assimilating him I gained access to all that he knew." He pointed down the corridor again. "That is the way we must go. That is the direction of the evil we must conquer."

Libby looked at Sheen, who simply shrugged at her. "Sounds good to me," he said.

"I suppose. It sounds as though he's pretty sure of himself." She came to a decision. "All right. Let's take that way and see where it leads. Sheen, you and I will take the lead. Ultra Lord can follow behind us."

"Shouldn't Ultra Lord go in front?" suggested Sheen.

Libby gave her head a vigorous shake. "No. I think that if we stay in front we can keep Ultra Lord from provoking any more sentries we may meet. The last one didn't seem to get hostile until you asked the wrong question. From what I've seen Ultra Lord would blast first and ask questions later."

Sheen reluctantly nodded. "Okay. I guess you're right about that." As Libby headed down the chosen passageway he added under his breath, "But it kind of spoils the fun."

"I heard that," Libby called from somewhere down the tunnel.

Sheen look surprised. "Man, sharp ears," he muttered.

"I heard that, too."

Ultra Lord appeared to be willing to take up the rear as Libby and Sheen marched down the corridor. Because they were once again synchronized to the system clock there seemed to be little reason to rush and it seemed prudent in any case not to rush blindly ahead and possibly blunder into more sentries. After what seemed to be a half hour Ultra Lord suddenly stopped and leaned forward, cupping a hand to his ear (or where his ear would have been had it not been covered by his mask). Aware that the footsteps behind them had stopped, Sheen and Libby halted as well and looked back at him.

"What's up?" Libby asked.

"Minions of evil," was Ultra Lord's grim reply. "Prepare for battle, Love Monkey and Store Mister."

"That's Stair Master!" objected Sheen. "I mean, Studmeister! I hit the 'R' by mistake."  
"Get behind me," ordered Ultra Lord, who appeared not to have hear Sheen. "I'll take them out and let you know when it's all clear."

"Hold on," said Libby. "I think Sheen and I ought to check this out first. There's no sense fighting if we don't have to."

"The battle against evil is never over," was Ultra Lord's reply. "Good's ultimate victory can only come through uncompromising battle."

"Will you give it a rest?" Libby asked. "You sound like some video game ad. Now, just stay here and let Sheen and I check it out." With a grunt of disgust she turned and headed further down the corridor with Sheen close behind.

"I don't know, Libby," Sheen said. "I think you should have let him take out these guys. It's probably quicker and safer."

"Maybe, but I don't see the point in fighting if we don't have to. I don't understand why this Ultra Lord thinks fighting is the only option."

"But that's what Ultra Lord does," pointed out Sheen. "That's what the game he's in is all about."

"But we aren't playing that game, Sheen. We're trying to stop a virus from wrecking Jimmy's computer. Just because blasting everything in your way is how that Ultra Lord game was designed it doesn't mean we have to do it. There are better ways to settle things." _Boys_. thought Libby.

_Girls,_ thought Sheen.

A few more steps brought them, not to another intersection, but to a moderately–sized chamber with a number of additional entrances and exits. Inside the room were several dozen of the now-familiar denizens of the system, all of them armed but none of them with weapons at the ready. As they entered one of the occupants stepped before them and said, "Halt! Identify!"

"Love Monkey," sighed Libby, rolling her eyes.

"Stair Master," added Sheen.

Their inquisitor considered their responses before replying, "Access denied."

"But we have to get through here!" Libby protested.

The person before them simply extended a hand, palm out, into Libby's face. "Interface with the manipulator extremity, because IPC handler operation has been suspended."

"What did he say?" asked Sheen, a puzzled look on his face.

Libby shook her head, undisguised irritation showing on her face. "I'm not sure, but I think we've just been totally dissed." She stepped forward and confronted the one who had denied them entry. "Look here," she snapped. "Maybe you think you have a good reason for shutting us out, but –"

That was as far as she got. Without warning a bright bolt flashed past her and struck one of the many people in the room, causing him (or her) to collapse inward and wither like a handle of dry leaves in a hot flame. Before anyone could react to this a familiar figure forced his way into the room and began to blast the confused assemblage with deadly and deliberate precision. When the initial shock of the attack had worn off some of those under attack began fumbling for their own weapons, but the resistance was far too little and much too late. Before Libby and Sheen could fully grasp what was happening everyone who had been in the room had been eliminated.

Ultra Lord put up his weapon and surveyed the area with cold satisfaction. "Area secured," he announced, motioning for Libby and Sheen to enter. He regarded the various exits from the chamber and pointed to one. "That way," he intoned. "The evil lies further ahead."

Sheen, once the surprise wore off, was delighted. "Oh, man, that was cool!" he cried gleefully. "Can you do that again? In slow motion, maybe?"

Libby, however, was still in shock. The sight of the charred remains in the room was all too similar to the carnage she and Sheen had encountered earlier. Ultra Lord had eliminated a perceived threat, but the threat he had so coldly eradicated was nothing more than a part of Jimmy's computer doing exactly what Jimmy had designed it to do. A chilling realization suddenly broke over her like an icy wave, leaving her numb and shaking.

Ultra Lord didn't intend to destroy the virus.

Ultra Lord _was_ the virus.

End of Chapter 12

Page 4 of 4


	13. Part 13 True Lies

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 13:

_This is so not good_, thought Libby. As well as being a formidable opponent in his own right Ultra Lord was Sheen's ultimate hero. Sheen would never willingly believe that Ultra Lord was responsible for what was happening to Vox. His reaction to such news could vary anywhere from simple disbelief to vehement rejection. Attempting to convince Sheen that Ultra Lord was the enemy was dangerous in another way as well. If Ultra Lord even suspected that she – or they – considered him an enemy his reprisal would almost certainly be as swift and deadly as his attack on the occupants of this room. On the other hand, she knew that had to tell Sheen. He had to know the truth, and there was no way she could handle Ultra Lord alone. She hesitated, not sure how to proceed, and Ultra Lord sounded almost impatient when he spoke.

"Are you ready, battle buddies?"

"You bet!" Sheen replied enthusiastically.

"Uh…wait a minute," Libby stammered. "Don't you think we should check some of these other passages? Just to make sure that we won't be surprised from behind by someone we may have missed?"

"Good thinking, Love Monkey," Ultra Lord proclaimed as he headed towards one of the side passages. "Let's go!"

Libby put an arm out to stop Sheen from following. "I have another idea," she said. "Why don't we split up? That way we can search three times faster."

Ultra Lord paused and regarded her in silence. Was he programmed to stay with the players? Or did he suspect something? Libby felt sweat beginning to bead on her forehead as the masked eyes seemed to bore into her very soul. Finally he said, "Good thinking, Love Monkey. Let's split up!" Without another word he darted down a passageway, weapon drawn and ready. When he had left the room Libby heaved a sigh of relief.

"Okay, Libs," Sheen said as he gestured to two other corridors. "You take that passageway, and I'll take this one."

"No, Sheen." Libby shook her head. "We –"

"You want to take this one, and I'll take that one?"

"No. What I want –"

"Well, we can't take the same one!" Sheen protested. "You said we should split up!"

Libby clamped a hand firmly over Sheen's mouth. "Will you amp down and listen for a minute?" Sheen nodded as he gave a muffled reply. "Okay." Libby dropped her hand and went on as Sheen gave her a quizzical look. "I know this will be hard for you to hear," she said. "But the virus we're after…I think…" Sheen's expression of innocent bewilderment made what she had to say all the harder. "I mean…I'm pretty sure that…"

"Yes?" Sheen inquired when Libby couldn't go on.

Summoning up all the will she had Libby let it out. "I think that it's Ultra Lord."

Sheen's frozen expression seemed both comical and heart-rending at the same time. As Libby began to reassure him Sheen suddenly burst into laughter. "That's a good one, Libby!" he managed to gasp out between guffaws. "For a second there I actually thought you were serious."

"Sheen…"

"I mean, the idea Ultra Lord being the bad guy. That's great! What until I tell Jimmy and Carl. Neither of them think you even have a sense of humor." He straightened up and wiped his eyes, which had begun to tear. "Oh, man. Give me a second to catch my breath."

"Sheen…" Libby tried again.

Sheen had managed to regain his composure and turned again to Libby. "So, seriously…which passage did you want to check? This one or that one?"

"Sheen!" Libby barked, making Sheen jump.

"What?"

"Listen to me. I'm serious." The steel in Libby's voice convinced Sheen that she wasn't joking, and he looked at her narrowly. "Ultra Lord is the virus we're searching for. We have to stop him."

Sheen shook his head in denial and began backing away from Libby. "No," he said. "That's not true. You're lying!"

"Think about it, Sheen," Libby said trying to keep her voice calm and use reason. "The virus didn't appear until after we uploaded the Ultra Lord program. Vox didn't detect any viruses when we did. The only things that got inside the system were what we put into it."

"There could have been something else in the game. Something Vox didn't recognize," Sheen argued.

"Remember the room where you found Ultra Lord's mask? Well, take a look." She covered the room that they were in with a single sweep of her hand. "Look familiar? Ultra Lord destroyed that room and everyone in it just the same as he did in here. Can't you see what's going on?"

"It's just coincidence." Sheen shook his head stubbornly. "Ultra Lord was fighting whatever was there. We're lucky that he survived."

Libby kept trying. "He was doing what he was programmed to do, Sheen. He's trying to win the game. He's trying to defeat his enemies. Well, look around you! Everyone in this room is part of Jimmy's system. If they're his enemies, then so is the system that made them. He's fighting the system!"

Sheen put his fingers in his ears. "I can't hear you," he called out in a sing-song voice. "La, la, la, la, la…"

Libby grabbed Sheen's arms and tried to pull them away. "You told me today that a hero is anyone you choose. Well, the same goes for enemies, Sheen. We told Vox to give the program whatever it needed. But when it tried to access privileged resources Vox tried to shut it down. Ultra Lord considered it an attack and is fighting back. He wants to shut the system down because he decided that Vox was the enemy. He wants to win this game. But the only way to do that is for him to destroy Vox."

"You don't know that for sure."

"No, not for sure," Libby admitted. "But everything tells me that I'm right about this. I need you to trust me on this." She went on with difficulty. "We've known each other quite a while now, and we've been through a lot. I would never say anything that would hurt you if I had a choice. Do you really think I'd say something like this if I didn't think it was true?"

Sheen looked troubled.

Libby's voice became suddenly quiet. "We're friends, Sheen. Being friends sometimes means trusting them when your mind and heart say otherwise. Without that trust there's no way we could ever hope to be more."

"Then why can't you trust me?" Sheen argued back, his voice as tortured as his face. "I'm telling you that Ultra Lord isn't evil. He's good. He wouldn't do the kind of things you say he did." He shook his head and his voice became anguished. "I thought that maybe you understood. I tried to tell you but I guess maybe it's something you can never understand. Why can't you believe me?"

"Because this isn't Ultra Lord, Sheen. The Ultra Lord you believe in doesn't exist. This is just a program based on Ultra Lord. He's not real." She reached for his hand and took it in hers. "Sheen, I'm begging you. We have to shut this program down before it destroys the system. It's not just you and me at stake here. It's Jimmy and Cindy and Carl maybe everyone in Retroville. Ever since Yolkus I've been able to look up to you because you tried to be everything that Ultra Lord meant to you. You can be the kind of person some people wait a lifetime to find. I need you to be that now. Help me to stop him before it's too late."

Sheen stared at the ground and said nothing for a long time. "You're wrong, Libby," he at last said quietly. "He is Ultra Lord. And Ultra Lord is a hero. He's the greatest hero ever. He would never let anyone get hurt. He'd die to protect them."

"Sheen…" Libby pleaded.

"All clear, battle buddies," a voice called out from behind them. "Are the other tunnels secure?"

"There was nothing there, Ultra Lord," Sheen answered as he gave Libby a somber look. "Nothing at all. Maybe there never really was."

Libby looked away but said nothing.

"Then let's press on, assistant avengers," Ultra Lord said as he moved past them towards the final passageway and pointed ahead of them. "The evil lies this way. The ultimate battle is about to begin."

End of Chapter 13

Author's Notes:

I meant to have this up earlier but had issues with slow dial-up connections on an overloaded server and then spent more time than expected installing a wireless cable modem to replace the dial-up modem. Fortunately everything seems set now.

Some people may find this chapter vaguely disturbing because it brings out a schism between Libby and Sheen, but I tend to think it really crystallizes their personalities as I seem them. Libby seems to be the most objective, pragmatic, and level-headed of the group (aside from her passion for music) while Sheen lives on the fringe of reality at times. I think that these differences in the long run would tend to complement rather than oppose each other although in a serious relationship there would be the occasional rifts similar to this situation.

Page 4 of 4


	14. Part 14 Hard Choices

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 14:

Sheen and Libby said nothing for some time as the three moved further along the autonomic regulatory system, but Ultra Lord did not seem to notice their silence. He seemed intent on following some pre-determined path that the others could not see and did not hesitate in choosing which passage to take when they arrived at an intersection. Libby wondered how it was that he was so sure of the way to go, but was more concerned about the consequences that would arise when he reached his destination. If only Sheen could understand what was happening she was sure that they could find a way to stop Ultra Lord. Unfortunately Sheen was deeply entrenched in his unquestioning hero worship and she could think of no way to pull him out of it.

For Sheen's part he was puzzled and saddened by Libby's antagonism towards the hero. She had been there when Ultra Lord had save Sheen's life, and only Ultra Lord's efforts had gotten them through the defense chamber. Could she really think so little of someone who had done so much for them? And if so, how much could she really think of Sheen who hadn't done anywhere near as much?

In front of them Ultra Lord stopped, so suddenly that Libby and Sheen, lost in their melancholy thoughts, nearly ran right into him. They had reached a massive door that barred their way and there was no apparent means of opening it from this side. After Ultra Lord had studied the door carefully for a few moments he drew back a huge fist and drove it with all his might into the barrier. The thunder of the impact echoed down the corridor for long seconds afterwards but had no visible effect on the door.

"Maybe we took the wrong way," Sheen suggested.

"Impossible." Ultra Lord shook his head. "Our archfoe is on the other side. There can be no mistake. This was placed here to prevent our reaching our ultimate destination."

_It must be one of the system safeguards_, thought Libby. _Good for Jimmy._ All she said, however, was, "I guess we'll just have to scrub the mission, right?"

"That's defeatist talk!" Ultra Lord said vehemently. "Ultra Lord always wins against evil."

_Not if you can't get to it_, Libby thought smugly.

Sheen had been feeling the surface of the door. "Can't you blast through it with your destructo-ray?" he asked.

"Shut up, Sheen!" Libby hissed.

Ultra Lord considered Sheen's suggestion. "It's possible," he admitted. "But it will drain my power cells and leave me dangerously weak for a while. I'd be in no shape to battle the forces beyond. Unless…" He paused. "Unless you were to fight them until my cells re-energized."

Sheen snapped Ultra Lord a smart salute. "Ready, willing, and able, Ultra Lord!" he proclaimed proudly. "Except that we don't have any weapons," he added weakly.

"No problemo," Ultra Lord said as he held out his hands. A brilliant radiance briefly surrounded them and when the glow faded he was holding two lethal-looking weapons. He proffered them to Sheen and Libby. "These impacter cannons will hold the opposing forces at bay until I can fight again."

Sheen eagerly accepted one of the weapons. "Cool!" he exclaimed. "Just like the ones you used to defeat the Cyberbots of Optimus Prime in Episode 175! Oh, and it's 'no problema', not 'no problemo', by the way."

Ultra Lord looked puzzled. "Cyberbots?" He shook his head. "I don't recall anything about Cyberbots."

"Well, you've been kind of busy lately. It probably slipped your mind." Sheen examined the weapon, which despite its size was remarkably light and simple in its construction. "Looks like your standard point-and-click device," he commented as he sighted down the colossal barrel.

Libby refused to take the other weapon. "No way," she said.

Ultra Lord pressed it on her. "Take it."

"I said, 'No'. "

Ultra Lord regarded her with hostile suspicion and said, "I suggest you take it if you plan to fight on my side."

The voice was even and calm, but Libby sensed menace in the simple statement. She accepted the cannon with distaste and gingerly held it at arm's length between her thumb and forefinger. "I may have to take it," she muttered defiantly, "but that doesn't mean I have I have to shoot it."

Satisfied that all was ready, Ultra Lord turned back to the door that blocked him from his objective. "All right, battle buddies," he directed. "Stand back and shield your eyes."

Libby and Sheen backed away but, curious as to what was going to happen, kept watching. Ultra Lord aimed both fists at the door and released two beams of blinding light at the barrier. Too late to avoid the dazzling effects of the beams Sheen and Libby instinctively shut their eyes and looked away, still seeing the afterimage of the bright rays inside their closed lids. It wasn't until Ultra Lord spoke that they opened their eyes again and tried to see through.the gradually fading purple haze that obscured their vision. By moving their heads back and forth they could make out some details with their peripheral vision and saw that a gaping hole had been melted through the door.

"All right…battle buddies," Ultra Lord gasped out as he leaned against one of the corridor walls for support. "It's up to…you, now. I'll…join you…shortly…"

Without hesitating Sheen leaped through the opening into the area beyond. "To insanity, and beyond!" he yelled. "Hey, are those tanks?" Libby heard him say just before the unmistakable sounds of combat began.

"You too…Love Monkey," Ultra Lord said, gesturing weakly towards the door. "Store Mister won't make it…alone."

Libby stood paralyzed with indecision, torn between helping Sheen and stopping Ultra Lord. "I won't help you destroy Vox," she finally got out, leveling her cannon on Ultra Lord.

Ultra Lord stared at her incredulously. "You'd…destroy me?" he asked.

"That's up to you," Libby said grimly. "But this insane war ends now."

"The war against…evil…never ends." He straightened with an effort and staggered towards Libby. "Evil…must never…triumph."

Despite all she had reasoned out earlier Libby couldn't help but be moved by Ultra Lord's dedication. Weak and helpless as he was, he still struggled to achieve his goals. _He's the enemy here_, she told herself fiercely. _Maybe he's not really evil. Maybe he really is noble and just misguided. But it's him or Vox._

"A little help here?" Sheen called out over the sound of explosions and blasting beyond the door.

Ultra Lord continued to stagger forward. He was only a few steps away now and Libby raised the cannon to her cheek, taking careful aim at the giant before her. _Him or Vox. Or maybe him or the world_, she thought, as her finger tightened slowly on the trigger. _Forgive me, Sheen. It has to be done._

A voice just behind her startled her and caused her to look away from her target. "Are you guys coming, or what?" Sheen asked impatiently.

In that split second of distraction Ultra Lord surged forward, snatching the weapon from Libby's grasp and snapping it in two. "Traitor!" he snarled. "Minion of evil!"

Sheen looked from Libby to Ultra Lord and back again. "What's going on here?"

"This was our last chance, Sheen," Libby answered in desperation. "I had to try stopping him…before it was too late."

"And she failed," Ultra Lord added, every word like a blow from a fist. Without warning he backhanded Libby, sending her flying backwards into a wall. She hit hard and slumped to the floor, dazed by the force of the blow. Sheen stood motionless, his eyes like saucers as he regarded the wrathful form of Ultra Lord.

"You hit a girl," he finally got out, still in shock. "You hit Libby."

Ultra Lord's voice had no trace of humanity in it. "Mercy is weakness."

"You – hit – Libby!" Sheen growled. "She didn't even have a weapon and you hit her!"

"The enemy deserves no mercy."

Sheen continued to rave. "She was right. You aren't Ultra Lord. You aren't even a decent game. A game has a purpose. All you care about is destruction. And you don't care who you destroy! You have no purpose!"

"My purpose," the figure before him answered evenly, "is to win the game." The voice grew in power and intensity. "That is who I am. That is what Ultra Lord is!"

Sheen shook his head. "I knew Ultra Lord," he said, raising his weapon and aiming carefully. "Ultra Lord was my friend. And you," he concluded viciously, "are no Ultra Lord!" He squeezed the trigger, snarling, "Gotta blast!" As he did so a burst of energy struck Ultra Lord, knocking him down, driving him back several dozen yards, and leaving a furrow in the floor. Sheen stared at his weapon in disbelief. "Wow. That's got more of a kick than I remembered."

"No, Sheen!" screamed Libby, who had recovered and was now pointing at the door. "They're here!"

Sheen looked back and saw the smoldering barrel of one lethal tanks he had been battling protruding through the hole in the door. "Oh, right. Them." He looked back down the corridor and saw Ultra Lord rising to his feet and advancing on them. "This is most certainly not good."

"No," agreed Libby. "We're caught between a dork and a hard place." She looked at Sheen. "What do we do?"

Sheen considered it before again aiming his cannon at the approaching figure of Ultra Lord. "What Ultra Lord would do if he were here," he replied. "We fight the good fight."

End of Chapter 14

Author's Notes:

In most of my stories, such as in this chapter, I enjoy putting in some sly references to other shows, partly because the _The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron_ is rife with them. One of my most subtle in-jokes, in "The Eye of the Llama", was Princess Leama's mention of the Regina Felangie (pseudo-Latin for "Queen of Felangie"). This was a favorite pseudonym of Pheobe Buffay and an homage to the now-ended series _Friends_, one of my favorite sitcoms.

Page 4 of 4


	15. Part 15 Vox

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 15:

Before Sheen could fire at the advancing form of Ultra Lord, the tank just outside the door discharged another bolt of energy, striking Ultra Lord squarely in the chest. This time Ultra Lord staggered, but was not driven back and did not fall. Instead he raised his own weapon and pointed it down the passageway.

"Is it just me, or is he getting stronger?" Libby wondered as Ultra Lord took careful aim. "It's almost as though –"

Sheen was much more practical. "Duck, Libby!" he yelled, carrying her to the floor and covering her with his own body. An instant later there was an audible sizzle as raw power sliced through the air above them, followed by a wave of heat that washed over the both figures. Sheen looked up at the door to see the effects of the blast. The door was no longer there. Neither, he saw, was the tank. Taking advantage of the momentary opening he scrambled to his feet and darted through the doorway, half-dragging Libby behind him. The two barely had time to leap to the side before another blast of energy from Ultra Lord's weapon leapt after them. Sheen immediately began running across the large chamber with Libby struggling to keep up.

"Sheen, what are you doing?" she asked. "What about the tanks?"

"I think they have a more important target to worry about," Sheen replied. "I'd guess that they go after the most serious threat first and that is definitely not us."

Libby chanced a look behind her and saw that Sheen was right. Ultra Lord had emerged from the ruined doorway and the numerous tanks in the room were converging on him, firing their energy cannons as they moved in. Much to Libby's dismay the weapons seemed to have little or no effect on their quarry who was in turn picking them off with little trouble. As ineffectual as the tanks seem to be, however, they were at least keeping Ultra Lord too busy to notice them. "So where are we going?" Libby asked, turning her attention back to Sheen.

Sheen pointed. "There." Ahead of them Libby saw a dark opening, larger than any they had yet encountered, through which two more of the energy tanks were emerging. "I'd bet anything that's where Vox is and where Ultra Lord is headed. We have to find some way to keep him out of there and put him out of commission if we're going to save Vox."

_Who said this kid was dumb?_ Libby thought. "How do we do that?"

"I'm not sure. Jimmy said he'd try to provide us with some thing to fight with. I'm hoping we can access it inside."

"So do I," answered Libby as she put on a final burst of speed to dash through the opening just behind Sheen. Sheen set his impacter cannon aside and began searching the sides of the opening for some way to shut the opening while Libby looked back into the chamber they had just left to assess the situation. After a moment she said, "Sheen?"

"What is it, Libs?"

"Does Ultra Lord have a tank?"

"What?" Sheen stopped searching for a moment to stare curiously at Libby. "No. He has the Ultra Dart, and the Ultra Cruiser, and a couple of other Ultra vehicles, but hot a tank. Why?"

"Because," Libby answered, "he does now."

"What? Let me see." Sheen moved to look out the large portal and was stunned. Just as Libby had said Ultra Lord was maneuvering around the room in a large armored weapon that could only be described as a tank. The size of the vehicle dwarfed the system tanks which swarmed around it and met their doom from the huge cannon or beneath the behemoth's titanic metal treads. "If this weren't so scary I'd say that it was pretty cool," Sheen stammered.

Suddenly Libby smacked her forehead with her open palm. She smacked herself again several more times without saying anything.

"You know, you really shouldn't do that," observed Sheen. "It might have some long-term neurological repercussions. Or so my doctor told my parents."

"I am so stupid!" Libby snapped. "How could I not see this?"

"See what?"

"Genetic process modeling. That's what the guy on the phone told you, right?"

"Yes," Sheen answered without understanding. "Does that mean something?"

"It means everything," said Libby. "It's a sort of artificial intelligence. Most programs stay pretty much the same. They'll always do the same thing the same way every time you run them. Usually a programmer has to change the code to improve a program. That's what program upgrades are all about. But some programs can change themselves and actually get better at what they do all on their own. Genetic process modeling is a way for them to do that."

"With you so far," Sheen answered. "I think."

"What happens is that the program uses the code of other programs to modify and improve itself." Libby looked helplessly around her as though searching for something. "That's why the program knew its way through the autonomic regulatory system. That's why it knew how to get here. That's why it keeps getting stronger and has a tank now. It's been assimilating everything it's been fighting against. It knows almost everything about Jimmy's computer." A thought suddenly occurred to her and she looked at Sheen in horror. "Including the access codes to get to Vox!"

"Then we've got to change them," Sheen said, glancing outside. "But first we have to shut this door. He's almost through all the defenses and I don't see any more coming to meet him."

Libby joined Sheen in frantically searching for some mechanism to seal the darkened chamber they were in. "But how? I don't see anything here to do that."

"Neither do I," admitted Sheen. He sighed. "I wish we were outside. Then all we'd have to do is say, 'Vox! Seal access to the Central Processor!'"

"Sealing access to Central Processor," a familiar voice answered. To Libby and Sheen's astonishment a barrier materialized in the opening before them, sealing the chamber and leaving them in pitch blackness.

"Uh…Vox? Lights?" Sheen heard Libby say. There was no response.

"Vox! Lights!" Sheen ordered. To his delight the chamber grew lighter, the light appearing to come from the walls themselves. "I guess that Jimmy only gave me direct access to Vox today," he commented. As it became bright enough for Sheen to see clearly he saw that the room they were in was quite large and perfectly circular. A sharp intake of air from Libby drew his attention to the center of the room. Sheen had often seen the sun shining through icicles hanging from the eaves of his house in winter, and he recalled the vibrant colors that had danced within them. The visions of those memories paled at the sight of the pillar of living light that reached from the floor of the room to its ceiling far overhead. As they watched it brilliant flashes of emerald, sapphire, ruby, and topaz streamed from deep within to arc like jets of rainbow fire to the walls about them.

"It's beautiful," Libby whispered. "Is that…is that Vox?"

Sheen's voice was equally hushed. "I don't know," he replied. Suddenly a crash like thunder echoed through the chamber and the barrier behind them shook, shaking both of them out of the trance. "But I do know we have to do something or we're all toast. Vox! Reset access codes!"

"Access codes reset," Vox replied as radiant hues swirled within the column.

"How did you know to do that?" Libby asked, both impressed and curious.

Sheen shrugged. "I saw it on a show once. There were these aliens who had taken over a ship and the captain –"

"Save it, save it," Libby interrupted. "You can give me the details later. Right now we have to find something to fight with. But there's nothing here." She looked around at the smooth, featureless walls. "Nothing at all." The barrier shuddered again from a massive impact from outside and she shivered.

Sheen considered it. "Vox is here," he pointed out.

"That's true." Libby thought about it. "If there would be anyplace in this computer where we could access Jimmy's files, then this would be the place. So how do we do it?"

"Leave that to me," Sheen preened. "Vox! Access Jimmy's files!" Instantly thousands of images began flashing on and across the chamber walls, far too quickly for either Sheen or Libby to see or recognize.

Annoyed, Libby called, "Slow it down, Sheen!"

"Uh, right," Sheen responded, considerable deflated. "Vox! Access files at a much slower speed."

"Specify rate of data recall," Vox instructed.

Sheen looked at Libby and shrugged. "I guess one a second would be good," he said.

"Data access of one file per second will take approximately two thousand seven hundred thirty-four years, eight months –"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Sheen called out. "Now what?" he asked Libby.

"Ask Vox to access files that would help us fight the Ultra Lord program."

"Good idea. Okay, Vox. Access files on weapons and stuff that will help us fight the Ultra Lord program." Another thunderous impact shook the barrier and Sheen added very quickly, "The one that's about to break through your barrier into this chamber and annihilate us. That program."

"Accessing," Vox replied. "Recalling data."

As various images began appearing on the walls Sheen and Libby walked in opposite directions along the walls, studying the images as carefully as the brief display time allowed them. Libby shook her head. "I don't recognize any of these things," she called out to Sheen.

"I'll know it when I see it," Sheen shouted back confidently. "I remember that Jimmy –" He broke off and cried out excitedly, "Vox! Freeze that image! I need one of those!"

Libby headed towards Sheen to see what he had found when an explosion shook the chamber and knocked her off her feet. Fragments of debris sprayed into the room from the direction of the barrier, and clouds of dust, grit, and smoke billowed into the chamber. Libby squinted through the haze trying to see what she knew all too well was there. It advanced like a juggernaut towards the glowing pillar, heedless of the rubble pulverized beneath its massive treads or of Libby as she crawled towards Sheen's forgotten impacter cannon lying not far away. The cannon swiveled with awful finality towards its last target.

"Victory," was Ultra Lord's only word as he prepared to fire.

End of Chapter 15

Page 4 of 4


	16. Part 16 Game Over

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 16:

"There's definitely something going on in there," Jimmy said. In the Other World he turned from the meter showing the power level of his lab's reactor. "The reactor is at 103 and climbing."

"Is that good or bad?" asked Cindy. She looked nervously about at the other indicators, only a few of which were still green.

"Well, it's bad, because the reactor is operating past the point that the cooling systems were designed to handle and if it keeps up the reactor will overload. But that's good, because it means the system is still able to fight the virus. But that's bad because if it keeps up the reactor will go. But that's good because it will give Sheen and Libby a chance to eradicate the virus. But that's bad because –"

Cindy glared at Jimmy. "Will you for once just give me a straight answer? Is it good or bad?"

Irked by Cindy's question Jimmy put the burden of the decision back on her. "Well, why don't you tell me? We're alive but twenty feet from a reactor that could destroy most of Retroville at any time. Is that good or bad?"

The response made Cindy acquiesce. "I guess I see what you mean." She tried another tack by rephrasing the question. "What do you think our chances are?"

Jimmy's answer was surprisingly cheerful. "Pretty good, actually. I mean, Sheen and Libby have bailed us out of tight spots before, right?"

Despite Jimmy's optimism Cindy wasn't fooled for a second. "That bad?"

Jimmy admitted, "It doesn't look good. The system keeps slipping in and out of clock synch so I can't know how much time Sheen and Libby actually have to do anything. They may have weeks of cybertime in there." He stopped to look at the rooster clock that showed Retroville time and then around at the various status indicators. "Or they may have only a few minutes like – they may have only a few minutes," he finished lamely.

_Like us_, Cindy completed the sentence to herself. The thought so occupied her mind that she nearly missed what Jimmy was saying.

"There really isn't any point in you hanging around," he said. "Goddard can get you back to your parents at the mall in just a couple minutes so you can finish your shopping. I can keep an eye on things here in case Sheen or Libby needs help."

At first Jimmy's words angered Cindy, as they seemed to imply that she was just so much dead wood and incapable of helping him in a time of crisis. Then the real meaning of his message hit her. In the event the reactor did go out of control he wanted her to be with her family when it happened. Reason told her that if the end came she should be with the people she cared about. But still she hesitated. _How can I?_ she thought. _How could I be there with my parents knowing that at any minute it could all be over when they wouldn't have a clue_? She looked over at Jimmy, who was seated at the main console again. His back was to her but he seemed somehow much older to her than he had been. _And what about him? Sheen and Libby would at least have each other, but he wouldn't even have Goddard here with him. How can I just leave him here to face whatever comes alone?_

In the end the decision was simple enough. Jimmy looked up in surprise as Cindy slid into the chair next to him.

"I'll stay," she said simply, staring straight ahead.

"Suit yourself," he replied just as indifferently, but out of the corner of her eye Cindy noticed that he seemed younger than he had appeared a few minutes before.

In the Cyber World a blast struck Ultra Lord from behind. The impact staggered him and caused his own shot to go wide, missing the radiant column. Angrily he pivoted his tank to confront and eliminate his attacker, and as he did so another blast struck, staggering him.

"How'd you like that, Ultra Dork?" Libby yelled. The impacter cannon she was using was too weak to actually hurt the augmented creature before her, but the concussion of the shots was still powerful enough to affect him and provoke a response. "You wanna bring it to me? Then let's get it on!"

"You dare to mock me?" Ultra Lord rumbled ominously. "You dare to challenge _Ultra Lord_?"

Libby's answer was to fire again, rocking her opponent on his treads. "Don't you ever use that name!" she growled. "You aren't all that and a bag of microchips. I don't know who or what you are, but Ultra Lord you definitely aren't. And as long as I have a weapon in my hand and a breath in my body I'll fight you."

"Then perish!" The cannon swung towards Libby and fired, but Libby proved too fast and agile for the massive gun. As close as she was she was able to move faster than the cannon could swivel to target her, although it kept her from launching any more attacks of her own. All she could hope for was to evade Ultra Lord's attacks and keep him from renewing his assault on Vox. After a few moments of fruitless effort it occurred to Ultra Lord that his strategy was ineffective and he changed tactics. Abandoning his attempts to blast Libby with his cannon he instead used the speed of his tank in an effort to run her down and crush her beneath its treads.

Libby now found herself at a distinct disadvantage. Fast as she was the tank was faster still and it began to herd her towards the perimeter of the chamber. It didn't take long for Ultra Lord to back her against the wall and be in position for a final, devastating charge.

The charge never came. Instead, there came the sounds of a projectile being fired and striking its intended target. Libby saw Ultra Lord writhe in pain as tendrils of energy surrounded him and his armored vehicle, and then saw the tank literally failing apart around him. As he stood there, shaken and exposed, a mechanical figure came up behind him and Libby could make out Sheen's form inside it.

"Get away from her, you glitch!" he snarled.

Ultra Lord turned to face his new adversary just in time to receive a savage blow from the Jimmybot's clawed arm. Caught off-guard by the attack he went sprawling, and Sheen closed in to follow up on his advantage. He struck again with the Jimmybot's other arm as his adversary climbed to his feet. Although the tank-killing projectile had been expended it still made an effective bludgeon and it sent Ultra Lord flying backwards again. Libby raised the impacter cannon to fire but was unable to get a clear shot before Sheen closed in on Ultra Lord. By this time, however, Ultra Lord had recovered from his initial surprise. As Sheen swung again Ultra Lord blocked the punch and staggered the Jimmybot with a mighty blow of his own.

"Fool!" Ultra Lord sneered. "Ultra Lord always wins against evil."

"That's sort of what I'm counting on," Sheen countered. He moved in again, albeit more cautiously. "You aren't Ultra Lord, and I'm not evil."

"I _am_ Ultra Lord, and you're my enemy," Ultra Lord replied as he carefully circled Sheen. "That makes you evil."

"I'm evil?" Sheen returned. "What about you? You've betrayed everything Ultra Lord ever stood for. Truth. Justice. Quality product placement. You don't care who you fight or who gets hurt along the way. If you destroy Vox you'll be hurting people you've never even seen. I said it before and I'll say it again. You aren't Ultra Lord. You aren't even a decent game!"

So intent was Sheen on what he was saying that he dropped his guard just long enough for Ultra Lord to close and grapple with him. For a few seconds the two struggled together, each trying to gain the upper hand. "Whatever you think I am, I will be the victor," Ultra Lord panted.

"Really?" Sheen gasped back. "What happens when you destroy Vox? What then? Ultra Lord always had a purpose beyond fighting. What happens when there's no more evil for you to destroy? What happens to you when you destroy this system? You're supposed to learn. Haven't you learned that if you destroy this system you'll destroy yourself?"

Sheen succeeded in breaking the clinch and the two resumed their maneuvering. "I've learned this. I've learned that there are other systems," Ultra Lord answered. "The game will go on. And I will win. That is all that matters."

"And the innocent people you'll hurt don't?"

"Mercy is a weakness," came Ultra Lord's mechanical reply. "Victory is all. And I will be victorious."

Sheen shook his head. "Not on my watch. There's no way that's happening while I'm here."

Ultra Lord seemed to consider this. "Perhaps you are right," he said, stepping back. "You are quite formidable."

"Watch him, Sheen," Libby warned. Ultra Lord had been careful during the battle to keep her from getting a clear shot and even now was keeping Sheen between him and Libby.

"Yes," Ultra Lord continued. "Quite formidable, indeed. Your abilities would be most useful." As Sheen puzzled over that comment a brilliant glow surrounded Ultra Lord's hands and faded to reveal a familiar-looking weapon that Ultra Lord immediately aimed at the Jimmybot.

"Look out, Sheen!" Libby screamed as Sheen stepped back in surprise. Her warning came too late. A bright beam from the weapon enveloped Sheen and the Jimmybot, and for a brief moment Libby saw their dark shapes silhouetted against the dazzling glow of the beam. Then the glow faded and the outlines crumbled into nothingness, leaving Libby to stand in stunned silence at the terrible swiftness with which it was all over. "Sheen?" she whispered in shock.

Her gaze went to Ultra Lord and she stared numbly as a mechanical frame materialized around him. He walked towards the shimmering pillar and as she watched a lethal-looking weapon shimmered into existence in Ultra Lord's armored hands. As he took careful aim at the column the realization of what was happening snapped Libby out of her daze. She fired the impacter cannon in a desperate attempt to stop him and watched helplessly as the shots bounced uselessly off the mechanical shell. Ultra Lord didn't even turn to determine the source of the attack.

"Game over," he intoned, and fired into the column.

End of Chapter 16

Authors' Notes:

I had envisioned the battle between the Sheen in the Jimmybot (as seen in _Jimmy Neutron: Rescue Jet Fusion_) and Ultra Lord to be similar to to that between Ripley in the powerlift suit and the alien queen in _Aliens_. As this chapter probably shows, my favorite part of the movie is when the Ripley first appears in the suit and tells the alien queen who is menacing Newt, "Get away from her, you b!"

Page 4 of 4


	17. Part 17 To Die a Hero

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 17:

As Sheen and Libby were preparing in the Cyber World for their final stand against Ultra Lord an alarm in the Other World began to wail in Jimmy's laboratory. "Danger. Extreme emergency," Vox's voice sounded. "Reactor overload. Predicted loss of containment in three minutes."

Jimmy slapped a button to cut off the noise of siren. "We're out of time!" he announced grimly. "Goddard! Omega Contingency! Get Cindy out of here _now_!" He raced to a control bank on one side of the lab as Goddard advanced on Cindy, but Cindy ignored Goddard and moved to where Jimmy was frantically pressing buttons.

"All right, Neutron. What's going on?" she asked.

"I said to get out," Jimmy answered without pausing. "Goddard! Carry out instructions!"

"Belay that!" Cindy snapped at Goddard. The mechanical canine stopped, uncertain how to proceed. He had been programmed to obey Jimmy, but it was clear that he could not obey without causing some harm to Cindy and thus violating his programming. He looked from Jimmy to Cindy, waiting for clarification, as Cindy continued to confront Jimmy. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on!"

"Two minutes, forty-five seconds until loss of containment," Vox announced.

"Well?" Cindy demanded.

It was clear that Cindy meant what she said. Jimmy threw a final switch and turned to face her. "Omega Contingency is my lab's last fail-safe. In the event of an unthinkable catastrophe –"

Cindy interrupted him. "Like this one?"

"Like this one," Jimmy admitted. "In the event things get out of control and can't be stopped any other way, I equipped the lab with a set of powerful thrusters to launch it into space and…destroy it."

"Two minutes, thirty seconds until loss of containment."

Cindy was outraged. "You mean that you had a solution all along and you didn't use it? _Why?_"

"Because Sheen and Libby were still in the system!" Jimmy shot back. "While there was still a chance to get them back I had to wait!" He paused to control his temper before going on. "But I need to activate it at least fifteen seconds before we lose containment to get the lab beyond the danger limit. That only leaves -"

"Two minutes, fifteen seconds until loss of containment," Vox conveniently stated.

"That leaves only two minutes before I _have_ to launch. I have to give Libby and Sheen those two minutes." Jimmy turned back to his dog. "Goddard! Take Cindy out of here!"

Goddard again started towards Cindy but stopped at Cindy's warning look. "So set the timer and let's go. If things work out Vox can abort. Right?" Jimmy said nothing. "Right?" Cindy repeated uncertainly.

"Vox has no control over the Omega Contingency. It has to be entirely manual. It's the only way to keep a system malfunction from setting it off. That's means that I have to stay…to activate it." His voice took on a pleading tone. "Now will you please go? There's nothing you can do here."

"Two minutes until loss of containment."

Cindy considered Jimmy's words. Activating the omega contingency would mean the end not just of the crisis and the lab itself, but also Sheen…and Libby…and Jimmy. It would be the destruction of anyone still in the lab when it was hurled into space to meet its final, fiery end.

Vox interrtupted her thoughts. "One minute, forty-five seconds until loss of containment."

Cindy shook her head fiercely. "No way, Neutron. I'm staying."

"What?" Jimmy couldn't believe his ears. "You don't know what you're saying. If you stay, then…I mean…"

"How is that any different from when I thought we'd be here when the reactor overloaded?"

"Because if you're here I don't know if I could activate it!" The truth came out in a rush. "Even if there were nothing I could do for Sheen or Libby, I'd want to know that at least you were safe."

"One minute, thirty seconds to loss of containment."

"I'm not going," Cindy repeated. "Do you really think that I'm the kind of person who bails on her friends when things get rough?"

Cindy's stubbornness was infuriating. "Will you for once listen to me and do what you're told?" Jimmy snapped, his nose only inches from hers.

"And will you for once wake up and smell the toast burning?" Cindy returned angrily. "I'm not leaving you here alone."

"Just what is that supposed to mean?"

"I think you know what that means!"

They both turned at Vox's next announcement. "One minute, fifteen seconds until loss of containment."

Frustrated, Jimmy turned to the control panel, his finger hovering over the green "ACTIVATE" button. He then moved it over the red "ABORT" button before returning to the green button again. _I don't know what to do_, he thought helplessly as his finger moved from one button to the other. _Someone tell me what to do. Maybe destroy Retroville? Or my best friends for sure? What should I do?_ He looked at Cindy, who appeared pale but calm.

She seemed to know the thoughts which were running through his tortured mind. "What you've always done," she said. "Find a way." As Jimmy still hesitated she said, "You've always believed in your friends. What do you really believe now?"

"One minute until loss of containment."

Jimmy deliberated as precious seconds slipped by. Finally, still unsure of the consequences but no longer uncertain of his decision, he pressed a button.

In the Cyber World Libby instinctively covered her face with her arms as the blast from Ultra Lord's weapon struck the pillar. She had no idea what was going to happen and anything from the inferno of a nuclear explosion to the reality-warping experience of a black hole implosion would have surprised her. As a result she was astonished, after endless seconds of apprehensive waiting, when nothing occurred.

Cautiously she uncovered her eyes and looked around. Her first impression was that her surroundings seemed much the same except that the menacing figure of Ultra Lord was no longer there and that there seemed to be far more activity inside the pillar. A closer examination revealed a figure lying not far way from her.

Sheen!

She hurried over and knelt down. His eyes were closed, but he seemed unhurt otherwise. At the gentle touch of her hand on his cheek he slowly opened his eyes and slowly focused on Libby. "Libs?" he asked.

"Who else?" she answered.

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure. Ultra Lord assimilated you and then blasted Vox. I didn't see anything but he's gone now." As Libby thought more about it she said slowly, "Vox ultimately controls the processes in Jimmy's computer. I think that his shot must have hit his own control process and that destroyed him."

Sheen seemed almost amused by that. "Boy, that was lucky for us, wasn't it?"

Libby recalled Ultra Lord's last words and shook her head. "I don't think it was luck. I think he meant to do it."

"What?" Sheen looked at her in surprise as he struggled to a sitting position. "Why?"

"When he assimilated you to get your weaponry he also absorbed everything about you, including what you believed about Ultra Lord. When that happened I think that he finally understood what it meant to be Ultra Lord. He realized that it was him or the world, and he chose what Ultra Lord would have chosen."

"He gave his life to save the world." Sheen looked sad and then smiled. "I told you that he was a hero."

Again Libby shook her head. "No. He was just a warrior. You made him a hero." Libby helped Sheen to his feet. "Programmers and authors can create characters and have them do things, but it's only when their actions mean something to someone that they become heroes. In a way, I suppose that heroes aren't the people themselves. It's really how we think about them."

Sheen raised his hand as they headed to the exit from the chamber. "Will all this be on the test, Miss Folfax?"

Libby pushed him roughly away. "Okay, no more lectures. I was just saying that you were right. A hero is anyone you choose."

"All right!" said Sheen, giving Libby a toothy grin. "Sheen 1, Libby 0! Score!"

"Whatever," was Libby's indifferent reply.

"Hey, does that mean that can I tell Jimmy and Carl that I scored when I was in here with you?"

Libby's voice turned icy. "No."

"Pretty please?" Sheen pleaded.

"No!" she snapped.

Sheen was silent for a minute. "Hey, Libs?" he asked.

"What?" she asked in irritation.

Sheen looked around them. "How do we get out of here?"

End of Chapter 17

Author's Note:

In this chapter I wanted to contrast the relationship between Jimmy and Cindy with the one between Sheen and Libby. In the case of Jimmy and Cindy it's fairly obvious that they already have strong romantic feelings for each other, but because of their actively competitive natures neither wants to be the first to admit it. Sheen and Libby, on the other hand, have no such barriers but need the time to learn more about what they find attractive in each other before a more romantic relationship emerges. In particular, Libby needs to learn more about Sheen's inherent nobility.

Page 4 of 4


	18. Epilog Back to Normal

Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Epilog:

The following day Jimmy, Cindy, and Libby were sitting in the Candy Bar, eating sundaes and talking while Goddard dozed beneath the table. "Thanks for offering to treat us to some ice cream, Jimmy," said Libby.

"Well, I figured it was the least I could do considering everything that you all went through," Jimmy replied. "I would have done it yesterday after I got you and Sheen back out but it took me a little to bring all of Vox's other systems back on-line and run through the start-up diagnostics. I'd forgotten how many systems there are in that lab."

"Sheen offered to help you with that," Cindy reminded him.

"Yeah, well, I think I'm going to wait until I put a few more safeguards in before I let anyone else use my system." He looked around them in curiosity and turned back to Libby. "By the way, where is Sheen?"

"He had…umm…had something to do," Libby answered evasively, looking somewhat embarrassed. "He should be here in a little while."

"Is he writing those suggestions that he said he was going to send to that game company?"

Libby looked relieved at Jimmy's question. "Yes," she answered quickly. "That's what it was."

Libby's expression and the speed of her reply told Cindy that, whatever Sheen was doing, it wasn't that. She decided not to pry for the moment and risk embarrassing Libby in front of Jimmy. _Besides_, she thought, _I'll find out soon enough, one way or another._

"Hi, guys," a familiar voice called. "I'm back."

"Oh, hi, Carl," Jimmy returned. "Back from Llama Camp already?"

"Yeah," said Carl said happily as he slid into the booth next to Libby. "It was so cool. There were classes on llama grooming and llama riding and llama training and –"

Cindy couldn't resist a sarcastic interruption. "So I'm guessing that everything in Llama Camp had something to do with llamas?"

"No," Carl retorted defensively. Then, in a meeker voice, he admitted, "Yes."

"Well, at least you didn't have those one of those lame arts and crafts classes," Libby commented.

Carl nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes we did! I took llama pottery and llama weaving and –"

"I said 'lame', not 'llama'!" Libby objected.

"Oh. Right." Carl looked thoughtful before speaking again. "Oh, before I forget, I saw Sheen a few minutes ago and he asked me to tell you something. He thought you'd understand."

Jimmy smile wryly. "Did he want to hold her hand?"

Cindy snickered at this but Carl missed the reference and continued with a straight face. "No. He was at the comic store and said that –"

"That's okay, Carl," Libby interrupted. "You can tell me later."

Carl refused to be put off. "No, I'd better tell you before I forget. Sheen said that they were all out of _Ultra Lord Adventures_ but that he'd get you _The Adventures of Ultra Lord_ and that he hoped it would be okay."

Libby buried her face in her hands as Jimmy and Cindy began laughing. "Thank you, Carl," said Libby, her voice flat.

"You're welcome," Carl replied happily and headed to the counter to place his order.

Cindy managed to catch her breath. "You actually wanted to read an Ultra Lord comic book?" she teased Libby.

Libby re-emerged from behind her hands and sighed. "Yes. After everything I saw when I was in the system I decided that maybe I should try to understand this whole Ultra Lord thing a little more since it was so important to Sheen."

Cindy stopped smiling and looked suddenly empathetic. "That is so sweet," she said. She glowered at Jimmy. "How dare you laugh at her like that?"

"But you –" Jimmy faltered.

"Forget it, Neutron. You have all the sentiment of an adding machine." She turned back to Libby. "Go on, Libby."

"Well, it was Sheen's conception of Ultra Lord that eventually saved us. I used to laugh at Sheen a little because I always thought he lived his life in some kind of ridiculous dream world full of unrealistic ideals. But then when I saw what Ultra Lord was without them, I began to see just how important those ideals can be." Libby looked thoughtful. "I guess in a life without dreams life is just a nightmare."

Cindy looked impressed. "Wow. That's pretty zen-like. Who said that?"

"A lot of people," Jimmy put in, "but this is the first time I've heard it put that way. I guess I'll have to remember that."

Libby spooned more ice cream and syrup into her mouth. "So what was happening out here while we were in there? You two really didn't say anything yesterday."

"I felt it wasn't the right time," Jimmy replied. "You two had been through a lot. But I suppose that it's okay to tell you now. With all the power you and Ultra Lord were pulling during your final battle the reactor was on the verge of overloading."

Libby stopped with her spoon halfway to her mouth. "I take it that was bad."

"Very bad," was Cindy's somber answer. "Jimmy nearly launched the lab into space to prevent the explosion from destroying Retroville. We were about thirty seconds from launch when Jimmy decided to cancel the plan. About ten seconds before the reactor would have overloaded things suddenly began to correct themselves. I guess that's when Ultra Lord sacrificed himself."

Libby swallowed another mouthful of dessert. "It sounds that things were just as hairy out here as it was in there."

Jimmy shrugged. "I had some good advice to help me. But it was hairy."

"Yes," Cindy agreed. "Still," she continued after a moment's reflection, "I admit that it was kind of sweet when Jimmy hugged me when he thought we only had a few seconds left to live."

Jimmy had been nodding in agreement with Cindy's narrative but suddenly glared at her last statement. "What?"

Cindy looked at him. "What 'what'?"

"What to you mean that I hugged you? I distinctly remember that _you_ grabbed me first!"

"I did no such thing!" she huffed. "You were the one that started it!"

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did!"

"I'll prove it," Jimmy snorted. "Goddard!" Goddard stirred and emerged from under the table. "Replay data records from yesterday, beginning time reference 15:18:30. We'll see who hugged whom," he informed Cindy grimly.

"Yes, we will," Cindy shot back.

Goddard, who was far too intelligent to get in the middle of Cindy's and Jimmy's arguments, looked from Jimmy to Cindy and back again before shaking his head. From inside his chest compartment there came a faint whine as data records were selectively erased.

"Goddard!" Jimmy protested, aghast. He slumped back in his seat, looking angry. "Man's best friend," he muttered.

"Exactly," Cindy answered in an accusing tone. "I'll bet that you probably have him programmed to do that every time he can prove that you're wrong and I'm right."

"I do not!"

"You do so!"

Carl arrived back at the table with his confection as Cindy and Jimmy's squabbling reached a crescendo. He took a seat next to Libby and watched the altercation for a few seconds before remarking, "So I guess things were pretty much the same while I was gone?"

"Yup," Libby answered as she scraped the bottom of her bowl. "Same old same old."

THE END

Author's Notes:

Some readers may notice that I've used both "epilog" and "epilogue" in my stories. "Epilogue" is definitely correct, while "epilog" seems more an American form (perhaps unique to me) of the word, such as "prolog", "catalog", and similar words. I assume that no one objects to these variations (e.g., "license" rather than "licence", "flavor" rather than "flavour"), and so forth. I doubt anyone will ever mistake me for anything other than an American.

Although I left Jimmy's decision as to which button to push in the last chapter somewhat ambiguous I hoped that Cindy's advice to him would help underscore just how much everyone actually depends on and trusts each other (especially Sheen) even if they don't consciously realize it. As to who hugged whom…well, that's up to the reader to decide.

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